The “invisible hand of the marketplace” is a favorite term of laissez-faire globalized economics, but LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND is a dark comedy science fiction tale about a teen-aged artist living on a near-future Earth transformed by twenty years of occupation by creatures from another planet. We expect invaders from space to be scary monster with big weapons but what if the space aliens who came to conquer the Earth weren’t monsters with ray guns but annoying, harmless-looking bureaucrats who used economic soft power and brought advanced technology which made most human jobs obsolete?
The aliens, called the Vuvv, met resistance from ordinary people and governments when they first arrived but then were aided by human capitalists who saw a golden economic opportunity. The impact of the “invisible hand of the marketplace” brought by colonization by the Vuvv certainly was good for the aliens and some people, but it has left most humans unemployed and impoverished. That is the near-future world where high school student Adam Campbell creates his colorful paintings, in Cory Finley’s smart, funny, satiric science fiction comedy-drama LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND.
Adam’s colorful paints are sprinkled throughout the film, as director Cory Finley uses absurdist humor crossed with social satire and mixed with surprisingly realistic human relationships and insights, in his hilarious, smart and clever film. Finley, whose previous films include BAD EDUCATION and THOROUGHBREDS, wrote the screenplay based on the 2017 novel of same name by M. T. Anderson, a National Book Award winner who writes thought-provoking children’s and young adult novels.
Income inequality, class and race are among the issues touched on in this funny but thought-provoking absurdist comedy. Even though this is science fiction, much of it is set in a more ordinary Earth landscape which actually adds to the humor of the absurd situations.
This delightful, creative film centers on teen-aged artist, Adam Campbell (a winning Asante Blackk), and it is filled with Adam’s colorful, naive art paintings, as he tries to figure out his place in this strange world. The planet his parents grew up on has been transformed by twenty years of rule by the bureaucratic Vuvv, coffee table-shaped beings from outer space, who thanks to their advanced technology now run everything.
Adam, his younger sister Natalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie) and lawyer mother Beth Campbell (Tiffany Haddish) live in their big, once-nice, suburban house, which is now falling into disrepair. Adam creates his paintings, while his sister grows tomatoes and other produce in what was their swimming pool and his attorney mother searches desperately for any menial job she can find.
Dad left sometime ago, going to California in search of work (the only place you can make a living, he said) with promises to send money and return for them. But it has been a long time since they have heard anything from him and they assume he has abandoned him for his new life in California. The family eat meals of unappetizing food cubes made in Vuvv factories. Real food is scarce, and so is hope.
At Adam’s high school, the one of the last human teachers just has been replaced by “educational” broadcasts produced by the Vuvv, focused mostly on touting the how “wonderful” their rule has been. But Adam is more interested in the new girl who has just arrived, Chloe Marsh (Kylie Rogers). After kind-hearted Adam learns her family is living in their car, he impulsively invites her and her family, an unemployed accountant father (Josh Hamilton) and sullen older brother Hunter (Michael Gandolfini), to stay at his family’s house. Adam’s worried mother resists the idea but reluctantly agrees to let them move in – temporarily. Like Adam’s family, the Marshes were once affluent but with the adults unable to find work, funds are tight to non-existent.
Kylie comes up with a wild idea to earn money: she and Adam will live-streaming their budding romance – or what seems to be a budding romance, as they barely know each other. Human love, particularly romantic love, fascinates the Vuvv, who reproduce by budding and having nothing like it in their world. And the Vuvv are willing to pay big money to watch unfolding romantic relationships, like between Adam and Chloe.
The live-stream program takes off with the Vuvv, and soon Adam and Chloe are supporting both their families in much more comfort. But with success comes pressures on both of them, and their relationship.
Absurd comedy abounds, starting with the alien overlords themselves. The Vuvv are wonderfully ridiculous-looking creatures, who one character describes as resembling “gooey coffee tables,” moist, brown, rectangular and squat, with the personality of rigid bureaucrats. Further, tThe Vuvv communicate by rubbing together their fin-like paddles, which they have in place of hands, producing a sound like someone in corduroy pants walking quickly. The Vuvv expect people to be able to learn to speak this language but realistically, an automatic translating machine is needed.
Absurd comedy is a big feature of this movie but so is surprisingly realistic human interactions. Living in close proximity brings conflicts between the families and the weird economic situation warps a lot. The fact that the Campbells are Black and their house-guests the Marshes are white adds to the complexity.
The cast is splendid, starting with the appealing Asante Blackk as Adam, a sweet, kind-hearted teen confused by the harsh world he’s living in and who expresses himself and his feelings through his paintings. He is excellent in this lead role, which might be a star-making turn for the young actor. Tiffany Haddish also is excellent as Adam’s strong mother Beth, a smart woman who is determined to do what is best for her family and with little patience for whining from her live-in white guests. Josh Hamilton is very good as Mr. Marsh, Chloe’s anxious, insecure father, who is defensive, privileged, and clueless, and inclined to echoing pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps platitudes (like insisting that learning to speak Vuvv is the key to success) while having no real insight. Kylie Rogers is touching as a girl who is devoted to her family and trying hard to do what is best for them but who doesn’t always see the big picture.
Twelve-year-old Brooklynn MacKinzie is cute and funny as Natalie Campbell, Adam’s precocious younger sister, who seems wise beyond her years but sometimes drops the facade to be just a kid. Michael Gandolfini gives a strong, often unsettling performance as Hunter Marsh, a confused young man seething with resentment that covers his fears for the future.
Weird things happen as this plot unfolds, leading to plenty of dark comedy and also to insights on human life and our own society, as all good science fiction does. LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND is an outstanding dark comedy with both a head and a heart, and one you should not miss.
LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND opens Friday, Aug. 18, in theaters.
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
