Colonialism and capitalism are popular themes in cinema. Finding new and original angles to explore takes both a deep understanding of the subject and a lot of imagination. Fortunately, Cory Finley’s Landscape with Invisible Hand is as imaginative as it is intelligent.
Adapted from M.T. Anderson’s award-winning book of the same name, we first meet Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk) through his childhood art, framed and hung on the living room wall as if it were the Louvre. Through Adam’s paintings, we see a family: mom, dad, brother, and sister, sometime in the late 2020s. We see holidays and the bustling market. But as our tour moves into the 2030s, the pictures change. And the clearest sign of change is the now-empty market, and the description “The Market After First Contact.”
In quick succession, we learn what has happened to our planet in its near future. Squashy pink aliens called the Vuvv arrive sometime around 2031, ready to colonize Earth and enrich themselves with our resources. The Vuvv look silly and communicate with flipper-like appendages (one character calls them paddles). They aren’t exactly hostile. This is not a species that could dominate in combat, at least, not the kind with weapons and bombs. Instead, they promise prosperity with a dose of “aren’t-the-humans-adorable” condescension. The economically advantaged who made early business deals with the visitors benefited well. They now live in grand floating cities while everyone below ekes out an existence with whatever resources they are able to scrape together. Jobs and houses still exist, but the wages are low and rent and heat are getting expensive.
There is nothing subtle about this alien invasion story, but there doesn’t need to be. In our media-illiterate and sociologically undereducated world, sometimes things need to be spelled out clearly. And sometimes they don’t but the results can be entertaining and instructive nonetheless.
At school, Adam meets Chloe (Kylie Rogers), a new transfer whose family has been left homeless after her father’s financial choices. With a bit of a crush and a lot of empathy, Adam invites Chloe, her father (Josh Hamilton) and brother Hunter (Michael Gandolfini) to stay in their basement. Adam’s mother Beth (Tiffany Haddish) is none too pleased with her son’s generosity, but doesn’t turn them away while Natalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie) is all eyerolls as the put-upon younger sister.
There are plenty of unsubtle and easily identifiable clues as to the damage the Vuvv have done. Teachers are replaced by AI tech the students access through nodes affixed to their temples. Eventually the schools are shut down too. Why waste the resources when kids have access to their education everywhere they go?
For the economically disadvantaged, fresh food has been replaced by 3D printed, gelatin-molded goo that vaguely resembles meat and vegetables. Homeless encampments dot the town’s outskirts, signs and symptoms of a crumbling middle class. The world-building adds a sense of reality, like a layer of science fiction over a planet we recognize. Much like District 9 used the near-future, alien invasion concept to address apartheid, racism, and immigration, Landscape — though quirkier — calls out corporations and governments who would colonize and destroy anyone who can’t afford or doesn’t want to play their financial games.
In the Campbell house, Beth searches for work anywhere she can find it, eventually landing a spot at a soup restaurant. She used to be a lawyer, and a pretty good one too. Chloe’s dad was an accountant, another profession without much use under Vuvv occupation.
Though their parents haven’t been able to get ahead in this new world order, Chloe and Adam find a way to earn some money and set their families up more comfortably, by livestreaming their courtship for paying Vuvv viewers. Love is a foreign concept to them and they enjoy watching humans date and woo, much like millions of Americans obsessed with The Bachelor. Although, in this case, when Chloe and Adam’s relationship derails, the Vuvv want their money back. Without the ability to issue refunds, Beth makes an uncomfortable arrangement the means welcoming one of the Vuvv into their home as a member of the family. It goes about as well as you might expect.
Asante Blackk, an Emmy nominee before his 18th birthday, carries the emotional weight of his leading role. Adam is still a teenager and Blackk beautifully balances the naivete and angst of youth with the world-weariness of a kid forced to grow up too soon. Tiffany Haddish also gets moments to shine. She isn’t the outrageously funny woman we’ve seen before. Here, she is mature, wise, and self-sufficient, a mother who will do anything for her family, and does. Josh Hamilton and Michael Gandolfini are also well cast as the Fox News-watching, perpetual victim types. They look down in judgment and disdain on the Campbells as though they are owed generosity.
Finley builds his film with careful layers. Like a painting of complex colors and shapes, Landscape with Invisible Hand addresses complex and familiar issues with humor and intention. A mesmerizing score by Michael Abels, along with perfect production design and cinematography make this a well-crafted, thought-provoking and entertaining film. Cory Finley once again proves he has a keen sense for satire and social commentary.
MGM/United Artists Releasing will release Landscape with Invisible Hand later this year.
