Review: ‘Landscape with Invisible Hand’
Anchored by another impeccable performance from Asante Blackk, Landscape with Invisible Hand is a smart, incredibly timely – if slightly uneven – dystopian drama that explores the impact of technology on human relationships.
At first glance, a film adaptation of M.T. Anderson’s sci-fi novel Landscape with Invisible Hand wouldn’t have seemed like the best fit for director Cory Finley, who is known for incisive, thought-provoking dramas Thoroughbreds and Bad Education. However, by expanding on the novel’s timely themes and engaging social commentary, Finley, who also wrote the screenplay himself, ends up being a perfect fit for the project, lending his sharp, witty voice to the subject matter, ultimately creating a devilishly clever, emotionally nuanced film in the process.
The film is set in a dystopian future where an alien species known as the Vuvv has taken over Earth. The Vuvv offer advanced technology and promise prosperity to humanity, but their presence disrupts the economy and leaves many people struggling to survive. The story follows the journey of Adam (Asante Blackk) and Chloe (Kylie Rogers), two young students who navigate this new world and try to find their place in it. Adam, a budding artist, wants to help his struggling mother provide for their family, while Chloe wants to escape the poverty-stricken life she leads with her sheepish father and jaded brother. The two concoct a plan to fake a relationship, the details of which they will painstakingly broadcast to the aliens like a reality show of sorts in order to make some cash. The plan, however, ends up backfiring when the two slowly start hating each other and they realize they can’t break up without bankrupting their respective families.
As the lead character Adam, Asante Blackk, best known for his Emmy-nominated turn in 2019 miniseries When They See Us, delivers a stunning, quietly searing performance as a young man trying to do right by his family. Abandoned by his father and terrified of what the future may hold for him, Adam is struggling to find his voice and ultimately his place in the world, and Blackk manages to perfectly portray his character’s emotionally resonant journey in a wholly realistic, painstakingly authentic way, grounding the film firmly in the real world against its more outlandish narrative aspects.
Elsewhere, Kylie Rogers delivers a solid performance as the sarcastic, prickly Chloe, while Josh Hamilton and Michael Gandolfini provide some comic relief as Chloe’s father and brother respectively. Despite a lack of proper screentime, William Jackson Harper manages to make an impression as Adam’s emotionally stunted father, who abandoned his family years ago to pursue a better life that never ended up materializing.
What firmly holds the film together, however, is it’s smart, incisive screenplay, which dives deep into the complexities of human relationships and the consequences of a technologically advanced society through a futuristic sci-fi lens. While its an alien species that has taken over Adam and Chloe’s world, it’s hard not to draw parallels to the predominance of capitalism in our society, the rise of artificial intelligence or even the current Hollywood strikes, which were the result of artists being taken advantage of and let down by a world that chooses to reward capitalism over artistry.
The film is not perfect, however; it slowly starts to lose its way as it trudges towards its third and final act with a bumpy, uneven tone, as well as jarring tonal shifts that are reminiscent of Finley’s first two features but don’t work as well here. Despite its relatively lean 94-minute runtime, it feels much longer as a result of those factors, and those who are less patient may start to slowly check out by the time the film reaches its conclusion.
Ultimately, though, Landscape with Invisible Hand is a thoughtful, engaging film that is still worth a watch thanks to a unique and captivating narrative that challenges viewers’ perceptions of love, art, alienation, identity, and the struggle to maintain authenticity in a world driven by profit and consumerism.
Landscape with Invisible Hand is in theaters now.