I’ve been curious about what Corey Finley will be giving us next, after “Thoroughbreds,” and “Bad Education,” that’s why I’ve been tracking his next one, titled “Landscape With Invisible Hand.”
‘Landscape’ was on my “What’s Left” list for potential 2022 fest films. It still hasn’t appeared anywhere, I thought maybe TIFF could screwn it (and they might still do that). For now, we’re hearing a test-screening is set for Finley’s latest in the West Coast on Thursday evening.
Based on National Book Award winner M.T. Anderson’s novel of the same name, the film is being described as a “heightened comedy set in a deeply stratified, alien future.”
“Landscape With Invisible Hand” follows a teenage aspiring artist (Blackk) who lives in a near-future in which an alien species known as the vuvv has taken over Earth. After the vuvv’s labor-saving technology causes Earth’s job market and global economy to collapse, the teen and his girlfriend cook up a scheme to make much-needed money by broadcasting their dating life to the fascinated aliens. But the two teens come to hate each other and can’t break up without bankrupting their families.
The film stars Tiffany Haddish and Asante Blackk and is set to be produced by Annapurna Pictures alongside the project with Plan B.
I loved the astute pitch-black comedy that Finley brought to “Thoroughbreds” and “Bad Education.” This seems to be a semi-departure from those films with its sci-fi elements, although the potential for dark humor is still very much there.