How brave must we be to stay true to ourselves and what would we do to keep our families intact? Those are only a couple of the thought-provoking themes writer/director Cory Finley tackles with aplomb in Landscape with Invisible Hand, which hits theaters on Friday, August 18. It is one set of beliefs that sometimes can contradict each other directly. However, what if they didn’t have to? The quirky film includes enough spunk and sweetness to be classified as an offbeat comedy. This is Finley’s daring motion picture where he utilizes the concept of aliens taking over Earth momentarily.
However, this goes deeper than that. The filmmakers use the alien invasion plot — something that typically winds up being the sole focus of a film of that ilk — as a way to explore the inner stirrings of our internal landscapes and the ways in which we find the courage to be authentic and real. No matter what. Even when there are invaders from outer space.
Cory Finley comes from St. Louis, Missouri. He had since embarked into filmmaking following his experience as a playwright; Thoroughbreds was adapted from one of his own stage plays. His second feature Bad Education premiered on HBO and earned him an Emmy Award in 2020.
In turn, Landscape with Invisible Hand provides another opportunity for Finley to expand some his unique concepts whilst placing them in larger Ideological context mirroring some aspect of human condition, perhaps even its absurd sides effectively captured by him through years before now.The film is bold but never overdone at any point.
At its core however is Adam (Asante Blackk), a talented teenager artist who loves art such that it may change his life someday. Of course this proves difficult because aliens have created rules for their bureaucracy, so they monitor humans like patients on one big reality show using their advanced technology instead among other things.. But more about that later.
AI has taken control of the planet and many of its citizens are unemployed, living on the edge or worse. Adam’s mother Beth (played with solidity by Tiffany Haddish) can’t be a lawyer anymore and takes various jobs to keep her daughter Natalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie) and Adam safe.
But then he comes up with an idea that saves him. He has been close to Chloe (Kylie Rogers from Yellowstone) who convinces him that their “love story” should be transformed into a semi-social media show that aliens will pay them for taking part in. These cats are intrigued with human mating rituals and relationship patterns. So, all good?
On condition. Adam and Chloe have to be in love with each other and if this does not happen you may see how high the stakes are here. In fact, their emotions are traced all the way as they move on together. This is because teenage feelings are unstable. However, maybe Adam’s and Chloe’s friendship was not as solid as they portrayed it to be at first. Blackk and Rogers deliver solid performances in this film appearing as two different characters with their own problems – Adam has troubles in his life and art work while Chloe has her family drama.
The more people know about what Beth did that night, the more everything unravels. As soon as he learned that Chloe is homeless, Adam invites all her relations to live in his basement. These include Chloe’s father (Josh Hamilton) and younger brother (Michael Gandolfini). Despite initial annoyance from her part Beth relents. Meanwhile hovering landscape cutouts hang above earth ruled by aliens.
This film really excelled in its production design and VFX effects hence making it a masterpiece of its kind till date. The aliens seen here are wonderfully made up images from an artistic point of view; they look believable enough for us to believe that beings like these could exist somewhere in space or in another dimension entirely. A mixture of jellyfish and worms these creatures communicate using clicks detected through a universal translator interpreter device implanted into the skull area of each individual alien who then utters those words or sounds which were translated into various languages by humans during their first contact event with earthlings back when it happened hundreds years ago! When Beth finally meets the alien overlord late in the story, Finley paces them out absurdistly enough for some laughs but still makes sense within context; however brilliant its execution may seem at times though, I feel like too much attention was given towards special effects rather than acting itself because most scenes featuring strange creatures just end up coming off as silly instead being creepy like they should have been.
After having encountered aliens, the rest of Beth’s life and that of her kids becomes a pleasant downhill ride for this movie. Something else to cherish; every actor in this film is fantastic. Haddish, Blackk and Rogers offer some subtle nuances and depth to their characters in the film that makes them stand out more than any other member of the cast.
Produced along with four others by Brad Pitt and Tiffany Haddish among others, Landscape with Invisible Hand is an indie-ish flick that actually has some serious weight to it too. Gandolfini steals every scene he is in as a grumpy bro too.
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