It's a film that puts a new and unique spin on alien invasion stories.
Landscape with Invisible Hand, one of the best sci-fi movies released in 2023, has just been added to Prime Video in Ireland and the UK.
Written and directed by Cory Finley (the excellent films Bad Education and Thoroughbreds) and based on a novel by M.T. Anderson, the movie puts a new and unique spin on alien invasion stories.
The sci-fi is set a couple of years after advanced extraterrestrials called the Vuvv have taken over the Earth.
While the aliens approach to occupying the planet is relatively peaceful, their technology has made many human jobs redundant leaving much of humanity struggling to make ends meet.
"When 17-year-old artist Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk, When They See Us) and new girlfriend Chloe Marsh (Kylie Rogers, Beau is Afraid) discover the Vuvv are particularly fascinated with human love and will pay for access to it, they decide to livestream their budding romance to make extra cash for themselves and their families," the plot synopsis reads.
"Life is good, for a while, until the flame of their teenage love fizzles out and they're forced to make very different, absurdly life-altering sacrifices for their families."
Asante Blackk and Kylie Rogers in Landscape with Invisible Hand
Co-starring Josh Hamilton (Reality), Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark) and Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip), Landscape with Invisible Hand is a pleasingly odd movie which blends classic sci-fi tropes with absurd comedy while also serving as a thoughtful exploration of capitalism and what it means to be human.
It is this ambitious mix, combined with the movie's great performances and unpredictable plot, that has led it to earn solid reviews from critics - scoring 72% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Here is a sample of some of the positive write-ups the film has received:
Deadline: "It's not a film about killing aliens or outrunning laser beams but about the economic fallout of an alien invasion: How do you live with them, and how does this shape future human interaction?"
Detroit News: "Cory Finley presents an up-and-down satire, both deeply weird and totally original, with a dry sense of humor and takeaways that are funny, messy and unsettling, sometimes all at once."
Inverse: "Landscape With Invisible Hand is the perfect answer to the sci-fi franchise machine, and exactly what we need in 2023."
Los Angeles Times: "A slyly subversive sci-fi satire that packs a sensory kick."
San Jose Mercury News: "It’s a lovely little film, and features two great performances from Blackk and Haddish."
Landscape with Invisible Hand is available to stream on Prime Video in Ireland and the UK right now.
Check out its trailer right here:
