Director Cory Finley's (Thoroughbreds) upcoming sci-fi dramedy Landscape with Invisible Hand might be a dark horse for Annapurna Pictures and Plan B Entertainment.
The film imagines a world where crustacean-like aliens have taken over the Earth, leaving many humans unemployed. However, instead of enslaving mankind for labor or food like most other sci-fi concepts, the aliens are using the surviving humans for reality TV entertainment.
Two teens enact a scheme to fool the aliens by crafting a fake romance, essentially creating a script for what's supposed to be an unscripted show. When they're found out, disaster ensues.
Speaking to MovieWeb, Finley stated that one of the hardest components of the production was figuring out some of the VFX. "The biggest challenge for me was the creature design, because it was so far from anything I've ever done before", said Finely, who has directed black comedies before but none have had a sci-fi component.
He went on to add, "It did end up being, I think, one of my favorite parts of the process. And a lot of it came down to my excellent collaborators. I worked with Erik-Jan de Boer, who is a visual effects supervisor. He worked on Life of Pi, Okja, and The Maze Runner. He made the process easy for me and was super collaborative and taught me a lot about visual effects."
Finley concluded the interview by expressing his hope that he leaves audiences with more questions than answers so that he generates conversation between moviegoers as they leave the theater. "I wanted to raise questions more than give answers. I hope people are provoked."
Landscape With Invisible Hand will hit North American theaters on August 18, 2023.
Landscape With Invisible Hand Synopsis: Welcome to the future, where the entertainment is us. Based on the acclaimed novel by M. T. Anderson.
Years into a benevolent alien occupation, mankind is still adjusting to its new overlords. Their technology initially held promise for global prosperity, but rendered most human jobs – and steady income – obsolete. When two teenagers discover the aliens are fascinated with human love and will pay for access to it, they decide to livestream their romance to make extra cash for their families.