When film fans think of the “alien invasion” subgenre, they usually think of the most high-octane, explosive examples, like Independence Day or War of the Worlds. These are all classics for a reason, but they represent a fairly narrow-minded approach to the coming of extraterrestrial life – eradicate the violent threat at all costs. Very rarely have they ever suggested what coexistence actually looks like. Cory Finley, whose previous two films stayed grounded in dark realities, beams his darkly deadpan sensibilities up to new heights as he tackles his own unique vision of science fiction, one that has much more to say about capitalism and bureaucracy than it does science or technology.
Based on M. T. Anderson’s 2017 novel of the same name, Landscape with Invisible Hand imagines a not-too-distant future in which the Vuvv, a quadrupedal alien species described by one character in the film as “gooey coffee tables,” have effectively taken over planet Earth. However, instead of destroying the planet, the Vuvv made deals with Earth’s savviest business minds. Now, the Vuvv’s flying saucers orbit Earth as a literal upper class, buying out land from below and overpaying humans for jobs up above. The remainder of human life is left to scrape by on what remains of Earth, though Vuvv technology continues to infiltrate their lives and make certain professions obsolete. In one of the film’s opening scenes, a teacher commits suicide after learning that an electronic “node” (think Google Glass but even dumber looking) has left him without a job.
The star of our story is Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk), a young high school student and artist whose family is left fractured without their father. His mother, Beth (Tiffany Haddish), can barely pay the bills; his sister Natalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie) has lost hope. “Sometimes,” she says candidly at the dinner table, “it feels like we’re not gonna make it.” Things begin to look up when Adam meets Chloe (Kylie Rogers), a girl who just moved into town after the Vuvv bought out their family’s previous community, leaving them homeless. Adam invites them for dinner and, then, as residents in their basement.
After falling for each other and beginning a relationship, Chloe suggests she and Adam try “courtship broadcasting,” where they film their dates for an eager and paying Vuvv audience. Effectively a commentary on influencers, Chloe and Adam begin to gain popularity but also grow resentful towards each other, as does Chloe’s family with Adam’s. When the Vuvv sue them for lack of authenticity, Adam and Chloe’s families are forced to take desperate measures to survive under Vuvv rule. To speak about the further places this story goes would delve into spoilers, but you likely won’t be able to predict it.
Finley’s version of Anderson’s evocative world codes the arrival of aliens akin to an economic recession, or even a natural disaster. It makes the film’s absurd subject matter resonate, in no small part thanks to the film’s static, grainy aesthetic akin to Finley’s last film, Bad Education. Though Landscape is shot digitally, you can still feel the lack of gloss in several sequences, even when the film layers on visual effects to showcase the Vuvv in all their slimy glory. Indeed, what may be Landscape’s biggest strength is its unsettlingly hilarious aliens, which look like raw turkeys from the Slender Man universe. What’s worse is their language, only produced by their two lined paws rubbing against each other like braille pads, spoken by flat voice boxes with just a touch of tonality. It never ceases to be deeply unnerving, and also ridiculously funny, fully selling Finley’s satire of deeply clinical overlords attempting to run a planet rife with human error.
It is ultimately this world that paints Finley’s satire with more immediacy than his previous dramas, which both feels in his wheelhouse and also a step outside of it. Finley has not lost his deadpan sense of humor nor his interest in the darker sides of humanity, but the film’s world-building does a lot more of the heavy lifting as opposed to the characters and the writing. Finley’s previous worlds were initially maintained but slowly degraded to reveal their dark underbellies. Landscape’s world is immediately discomforting, leaving Finley the room to tackle more sincere themes of agency, artistry, and love in a world ruled by corporate greed and surveillance. Adam uses his art to express himself, the one thing the aliens cannot take away from him…that is, until they try.
Though the substance of the satire is not especially fresh, the approach to it is, and that’s all you need to make an experience especially cinematic. Though the ending leaves a bit to be desired, Finley’s latest film is a successful showcase of the filmmakers’ ability to take his thematic interests and layer them with a strong coat of genre aesthetics. It’s one of the year’s most exciting visions, straight from one of the industry’s most exciting auteurs.
Landscape with Invisible Hand is now in theaters, courtesy of MGM and Annapurna Pictures.
Though not particularly new with its insights, 'Landscape with Invisible Hand' is a technical achievement from Cory Finley that puts a new coat of paint over his traditional deadpan style.
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GVN Rating 7.5
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Larry Fried is a filmmaker, writer, and podcaster based in New Jersey. He is the host and creator of the podcast “My Favorite Movie is…,” a podcast dedicated to helping filmmakers make somebody’s next favorite movie. He is also the Visual Content Manager for Special Olympics New Jersey, an organization dedicated to competition and training opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities across the Garden State.