Hollywood Movie: Landscape with Invisible Hand (2023)
It’s 2036 AD, and space aliens have not only landed on Earth, but also maybe forever changed the economy, too. That’s the main premise of “Landscape with Invisible Hand,” a satirical sci-fi comedy based on M.T. Anderson’s award-winning young adult sci-fi novel. Adapted and directed by Cory Finley (“Thoroughbreds,” “Bad Education”), “Landscape with Invisible Hand” expands the plot and core relationships of Anderson’s novel, which follows an aspiring teen painter and his family as they struggle to make enough money to keep their family home.
Some of Finley’s tweaks and twists stand out, especially how some characters wallow and even weaponize their financial distress as a self-soothing coping strategy. Unfortunately, “Landscape with Invisible Hand” still relies too much on basic and by-now trite ideas about making money and staying human under otherwise degrading living conditions. Finley’s E.T.s are clearly meant to reveal how small and/or resilient humanity can be when faced with even fewer ways to survive, but they ultimately seem more like a fanciful plot device than a thoughtful extension of the world outside the movie theater.
The setup’s good enough: the Vuvv have been observing our planet since the 1950s but have kept their distance out of fear of being shunned like any other outsiders. Now they’re here and have already been welcomed by rapacious businessmen and their newly jobless subordinates. The Vuvv, whom one character describes as “gooey” sentient coffee tables, have advanced technology but lack empathy. Soon everyone on Earth works for them, either as hired help or entertainment. The Vuvv like retrograde 1950s sitcoms because they like the idea of people more than the reality. Go figure.
The setup’s good enough: the Vuvv have been observing our planet since the 1950s but have kept their distance out of fear of being shunned like any other outsiders. Now they’re here and have already been welcomed by rapacious businessmen and their newly jobless subordinates. The Vuvv, whom one character describes as “gooey” sentient coffee tables, have advanced technology but lack empathy. Soon everyone on Earth works for them, either as hired help or entertainment. The Vuvv like retrograde 1950s sitcoms because they like the idea of people more than the reality. Go figure.
Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk), a teenage artist, mostly keeps to himself but still becomes involved with the Vuvv after he invites fellow high-schooler Chloe Marsh (Kylie Rogers) to stay in his family’s basement. At first, Adam’s mom Beth (Tiffany Haddish), resists this new living situation, but she tentatively warms up to Chloe’s apologetic dad (Josh Hamilton) and surly older son Hunter (Michael Gandolfini) once Mr. Marsh starts paying rent. Chloe also chips in, but she does it by recording a live “courtship broadcast” video stream with Adam, which they tape and upload for the Vuvv using data-recording monitors called nodes. The Vuvv pay to watch Adam and Chloe hold hands and neck with each other, which understandably estranges the young lovers. Then the Vuvv sue Chloe and Adam for false advertising, since their livestream is called “Adam and Chloe in Love,” so they have to figure out an alternative living/money-making arrangement.
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