User reviews

We found the movie fresh and fairly unpredictable, with some clear satirical references to race relations, reality TV and social networks, wealth disparity, and the fate of indigenous people.

The acting was fine, nothing cringe-worthy. At times, it felt like the director was the main actor's mom -- look at my boy, he's so pretty! But otherwise it was fine.

We really liked the aliens, who avoid most of the tropes of the genre. No humanoids with brow ridges here!

The special effects were well done, no problem with suspension of disbelief.

There is no real conclusion, and the future is frankly bleak, but the human spirit lives on (we hope?).

Worth watching simply because it touches on topics that most sci-fi is usually reluctant to even allude to.

In the near future, aliens called Vuvv have made first contact some five years earlier. After some resistance, the aliens found capitalist allies to take over the economy. Together, they live on floating cities while the population on the ground struggles with joblessness. Artistic student Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk) falls for new student Chloe Marsh (Kylie Rogers). Adam convinces his mother Beth Campbell (Tiffany Haddish) to take in Chloe's homeless family. In order to make some money, Adam and Chloe decide to do a courtship broadcast.

This is one weird sci-fi concept. Like other great sci-fi, this says more about the present day situation. This is really about today's growing underclass and their hopelessness. Blackk is an intriguing actor. The alien design is unique and weird. There are issues for a general public audience. A lot of this film is awkward and uncomfortable. It could be funny as long as the viewer isn't disturbed by the material.

This film was pretty unexpected and unlike anything I've seen, and I think because of that it was a bit weird, like it had some narrative shifts. I loved the fact it touched on some pretty controversial topics, which is something I really enjoy under a Sci-fi lens.

Like distribution of wealth, what happens to native people in occupied land. It was really interesting.

The acting was pretty good, and the creature design was excellent in a way that it was very inhuman, and even communicated very differently, which was pretty cool. The film was well made with nice details, even down to the soundtrack.

Tiffany Hadish, who stars in this movie, is a Producer. As well as Brad Pitt. As some reviews state it is "weird sci-fi." I thoroughly enjoyed it as something very different. My wife enjoyed it less, she likes movies which are neatly tied up at the end and this one isn't.

The premise is an intelligent, advanced alien species, called the Vuvv, started observing Earth and its inhabitants back in the 1950s and in the early 2030s decided to make "first contact." Now, in 2036, they have firmly established themselves with giant floating cities that also accommodate the ultra wealthy. More ordinary people still live their usual lives but all are close to poverty and find ways to scratch out a living.

The Vuvv don't appear to be threatening but somehow are able to impose their will on Earthlings. One early example, as students show up for the beginning of a school day they are told they can all go home, they will all learn via remote access, teachers are no longer necessary.

Some professional reviewers rate this movie very low, others rate it very high. Similar with user reviews. Some think it is an allegory based on how European settlers a few hundred years ago took over the lands and cultures of the Native Americans and relegated them to a minimal existence. Myself? I am not sure what to think but I found the novelty to be very interesting and entertaining.

I always like to make sense of the title of a movie and yet I am not sure about "Landscape with Invisible Hand." Maybe it is a reference to the young character Adam who draws and paints, and near the end he paints a whole school wall with a variety of images, a sort of landscape of their current existence.

My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Amazon Prime. I might watch it again after I let it digest a bit.

This film is a mixed bag of genres that really didn't work when combined. The story started off with so much promising potential with the initial premise being very creative, then it devolves into a narrative that was just too convoluted, inconsistent, lacking impact, and riddled with tonal inconsistencies that will leave you scratching your head. Even the attempts at humor were more cringe than laughs.

The filmmaker's ambition surpassed his execution, that struggled to balance a social commentary, a coming-of-age romance, and a sci-fi dystopian cautionary tale. Sadly, the film ends up failing on both dramatic and comedic levels, and ultimately is underwhelming and will leave you feeling frustratingly unsatisfied, especially the ending, which felt lazy and rushed.

I will credit this film with some impressively staged sequences and set pieces with great performances by all cast members, but that wasn't enough to overshadow this film's failure to tell a compelling story. Maybe in the hands of better filmmakers, this may have been a hit, but as is, it's a miss, and a loss of 105 poorly paced minutes I'll never get back. It's a generous 6/10 for the great concept, performances, cinematography and score.

Landscape With Invisible Hand, the title alone already caught my attention. What a weird title for a sci-fi you would think, and a weird movie it was in the end. The good kind of weird though. I'm not surprised not everyone enjoyed this movie. They were probably expecting a totally different movie but I did enjoy this quirky satire on modern society. The aliens are for once something completely different, a creature that looks like a naked turkey coffee table. I found it very refreshing, and funny as well, certainly the paw scratching talking. Asante Blackk has a weird face but he did good in this movie. Tiffany Haddish that I enjoyed as a standup comedian shows she's also a good actress. Good acting, enjoyable story to follow, and definitely weird aliens.

But what it has to say about voyeuristic consumerism, evolving labor markets, art appreciation and intergalactic utopian caste structures is thoroughly tired.

Yeah, the film's quirky. I will give it that. It's just that Tiffany Haddish has absolutely zero appeal for me. And the kid's eyelashes are massively distracting. Nor did I like the blonde teen because she is the epitome of the rampant social media type that I simply can't stomach.

I did like the wig.

The entire film comes off as the light beer version of a Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett affair. But it is not completely horrible. Just miscast and lacking in a certain something.

"Landscape with Invisible Hand" is a 2023 satirical sci-fi comedy that attempts to critique capitalism, economic exploitation, and class divisions through interactions with quirky alien beings called the Vuvv. The film's satire occasionally teeters on the edge of parody as it portrays the Vuvv as whimsical and amusing visitors rather than imposing invaders. The story follows teenager Adam Campbell in a world where the Vuvv have left humanity financially distressed and creatively stifled. While the film has an inventive premise, it struggles with an overabundance of ideas and tonal inconsistency. The characters are emotionally detached, making it hard to connect with them. Despite its promise, the film often falls short in delivering a deep exploration of its themes. The portrayal of the Vuvv verges on becoming caricatures, and the film's tonal shifts disrupt the overall experience. However, it retains an odd charm and occasional moments of amusement, making it worth a watch for those open to its quirky journey.

It was an interesting premise for sure but it got way to obvious way too soon for me. There was a lot to explore here and it could have been entertaining and thought provoking but it didn't really provoke many thoughts of merit, felt a little bit flat and boring.

The theremin music was just too obvious a choice and steered it in the predictable direction and vibe of it all.

It just didn't click and it should have. There were lots of interesting ideas in it but the characters didn't all work and ultimately my attention drifted till I didn't feel like watching it in one sitting, and there it stopped.

Landscape with Invisible Hand is quite enjoyable. Tiffany Haddish is just really awesome in the movie. She holds it all together really well. Overall, the film is well directed, well acted, has a original concept and voice. Not sure if it is a crowd pleaser, but if you like cinema, I would recommend go check it out just to have a fun different movie to watch. The music is really well done. The effects are interesting. The aspect ratio and choice of film stock are very well thought out. The first half of the film is probably slightly better paced, but overall I would recommend it through and through.

The story shine in this one. It is a fable about the human behavior, past and present. It talks about relations, art and weakness of human nature.

Coming in for the scifi part, staying for the clever, oh the clever story.

Based on the reviews, it seems this is not for most viewers. But if you are looking for some quality content which makes you think afterwards, go on and watch it if you have the chance.

Some parts are hilariously enjoyable, other just beautiful metaphors. The FX are spot on, aliens are very well executed, and the way they communicate, both brilliant and credible. Overall it is a well made film.

Maybe the pace at the end would have done it at a crescendo, instead of keeping it steady.

Starting with the cinematographic part: very competent direction, the actors are very good, all of them, and the soundtrack has everything to do with the film's proposal, it's strange, futuristic and melancholic, it fits perfectly. The editing is also good, as is the script, and the narrative is a little slow at times, something I particularly like, but a lot of people don't like it and will find it a little tiring.

Still on cinematography, there are only two details that I didn't find perfect: the first concerns the filters and colors, which I felt was missing a little variation that would illustrate in a more melancholic way the moments of coldness of the domineering capitalist aliens and in a more colorful way the moments of art and humanity, the visual language of the film is all very similar and that bothered me a little. The second thing concerns the special effects, the aliens are very well done, impeccable, but the part about the ships and other transport in flight or movement I found very fake, they didn't maintain the good level and left something to be desired.

Leaving the cinematographic part and entering the conceptual proposal of the film, I have nothing but praise. It's a harsh, merciless and spectacular criticism of capitalism as an oppressive and segregating element, an ode to art and the expressions of human nature and feelings, and an acidic social satire on racism, self-interested behavior of human beings, pettiness in property and selfishness of material goods and the rotten emptiness of reality shows and video channels that transform some of the most precious human and personal values such as love, relationships and family into futile public market objects.

I rate it 7 out of 10 for the work as a whole, as it's slightly tiring and leaves a little to be desired in terms of effects and filters, but due to the important human and socioeconomic themes covered, I rate it 10 out of 10.

Great acting, good CGI... All the rest sucks.

It was a surprise to see Tiffany Haddish acting for real, and not just trying too hard to be funny. And she was good. I hope other actors, like Kevin Hart just to mention one of many, would learn that just screaming to be funny doesn't equate to good acting. To continue this line of thought, the movie tries way too hard to be deep, and it only made a pretentious mess of a lot of topics and not coming to conclusion in any of them.

If you don't like open endings, you won't like the end of this.

The whole thing is as forgettable as the title... what was the title?...

The movie tips its toes in many topics, predominantly neoliberal captialism and social media commercialization, but also racism, the social class divide, single parenthood, relationships, educational deficiencies, poverty and gender stereo types, but hardly brings any of these topics to a closure.

Speedily it paces between these topics, leaving the viewer puzzeled where it will go next. First part of the movie seems to be about social media and its impact on relationships, while the second part seems to be more about coming of age as an artist in the age of capitalism.

None of the topics really goes full circle and is brought to closure, so what remains is a bit of an unsatisfied surreal dreamy movie.

The performance of the 3 protagonists is great, especially Asante Blackk, making it still a pleasant movie experience,

Cory Finley is a pretty interesting filmmaker as his works on Thoroughbreds and Bad Education are pretty great as they provide some strong direction and interesting narrative concepts throughout. This movie is based on a novel and I haven't read the novel yet so I primary am focused on the movie as a movie. While this movie does struggle with some of it's narrative themes and concepts, I still throughly enjoyed the movie and it being ambitious.

There were some pretty good camerawork and production that helps establish the environment and setting of the mix sci-fi and naturalistic vibe to the story. The direction from Finley is strong which Finley doing a solid job on maintaining the movie's structural themes and elements. Regarding the narrative, the narrative explores new concepts and social commentaries which I appreciate as the movie does explore some interesting style and ways on presenting the social themes. However, with that being said, the narrative does struggle to balance its structure, themes and tone at times since it does feel slightly convoluted and sloppy on certain aspects. As if the narrative wasn't able to focus on what it really wanted to focus at times.

The performances from the cast members are pretty good as the Asante Blackk and Kylie Rogers provided some pretty good chemistry between one another and were fun to observe. Usually I'm not the biggest fan of Tiffany Haddish but she is pretty good in this movie and it's nice to see her branch out towards dramatic works. On characters, the characters could have been fleshed out a little more. I enjoy some moments from the characters but the character arches felt a little thin which made sometimes a little difficult to fully connect with them. There were a few characters that got a little on my nerves especially the character of Hunter.

The dialogue moments were pretty good as the dialogue helps capture some awkward teenage moments, strange commentary discussions and feel to it. The sci-fi alien like soundtrack was pretty good, the alien designs were pretty cute and the way they are created and structured is pretty cool. The satirical aspects of the movie are solid while there are some satirical moments that aren't strong/

Despite its flaws, I was still invested and interested to see where the film could lead towards and overall, it's not perfect and not for everyone but I appreciate the film's weirdness and creative structures.

I watched this movie because I thought the premise was interesting, and this movie was based on a book with the same name by M. T. Anderson, a book I have not read but the movie makes me intrigued to read it. The movie Landscape with Invisible Hand (2023) was not bad, though it can be slow, it can be investing with its plot involving how an alien race's rule over Earth can affect it. Good acting, favorable effects for the aliens, little funny moments, and the movie can be weird from time to time.

The acting in the movie is good especially the main character Adam played by Asante Blackk and Adam's mom played by Tiffany Haddish who are the best part of the movie, being invested in the characters and getting behind the characters in certain scenes. The other characters in the movie are not that interesting, other than Adam Campbell being a skilled artist dealing with the changes to his world from the alien race and Adam's mom Beth Campbell is trying to get a job while dealing with what has been happening with her husband and what is happening to the world.

The alien race called the Vuvv has a clever design with an interesting way in communicating in their own interesting language; the way they affect Earth with some kind of bureaucratic rule and advanced technology was interesting with-it having an intriguing look to the movie, even when you see the main ship of the alien race. The movie has moments that I was confused about occasionally, and the movie has a lot of weird moments too, while also having some effective emotional moments that you might not notice because of how the movie can feel slow at times, but it did not bother that much as it could have.

Landscape with Invisible Hand (2023) was not bad having good acting, favorable effects for the aliens, the movie being weird from time to time, an interesting premise, a unique alien race for the movie, little funny moments, but also some effective emotional moments. I do think there will be a lot of people who will be divisive with this movie considering this movie is not for everyone, though it is not rewatchable, I would suggest giving it at least one watch to see if you will like it or not.

Greetings again from the darkness. Alien invasion movies have long been a favorite of science-fiction filmmakers, as well as platform for those who strive to caution us to our societal missteps and wrong choices along life's muddy path. Within the past couple of weeks I watched JULES (2023), a cute, heart-warming story about an alien who crash-lands in Pennsylvania and is cared for by Ben Kingsley's character. Going back further we have the thoughtful ARRIVAL (2016), the outlandish MEN IN BLACK (1997), the precious E. T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) from Spielberg, the frightening ALIEN (1979) by James Cameron, the often-re-made WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), and the classic FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956). Of course, this is but a tiny portion of the complete list, but it gives some idea of the long-lived fascination.

Writer-director Cory Finley has become a rising star with the devilishly entertaining THOROUGHBREDS (2017) and BAD EDUCATION (2019). For his third feature, he has chosen to adapt MT Anderson's 2017 novel, and in the process delivers a hit and miss commentary on the human race. Artwork is creatively utilized to provide the timeline and backstory of how the technologically advanced aliens invaded and began rule the planet. It takes us to the year 2036, five years after "First Contact." It's here where we find the Campbell family: mother Beth (Tiffany Haddish), son Adam (an excellent Asante Blackk, "This is Us"), and daughter Nathalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie). Beth is a former lawyer, unable to find work and struggling to make ends meet for the family. Adam is the main feature here, as a high school student who is exploring his talent as an artist, while also falling for new girl Chloe (Kylie Rogers, "Yellowstone") who is homeless with her dad (Josh Hamilton) and bitter brother Hunter (Michael Gandolfini).

The aliens, known as Vuvv, have their own scratchy language, and the appearance of slimy loaves of bread with four paddle legs and two caterpillar eyes. As a species, they are mesmerized by human romance, and the newest Courtship Broadcast they follow is "Adam and Chloe in Love." The two teenagers gain a following, which means money for their families. However, since much of the movie is spent harping on the evils of capitalism, the two soon find themselves being sued by the aliens for misrepresentation, putting themselves and their families at risk. A particularly creative solution to the problem finds one of the Vuvv moving into the home and attempting to emulate sitcom family life as seen on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" (personally I would have preferred "Leave it to Beaver").

This is not one of the post-apocalyptic films that have become so popular. Rather it's social commentary that doesn't dig very deep and sticks to the easy targets. There are a few doses of clever humor, including a SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION shot in a golf course sandtrap, and a school lunch menu that includes Saturn sliders and Moon nuggets. Adam's story is one of a young man striving to maintain his sense of self despite other-worldly obstacles. The lessons are clear in that money can't buy happiness, but even that lesson doesn't prevent us from wanting satire to go a bit deeper with its commentary ... warbling music (Michael Abel) isn't quite enough. Although this film isn't at the level of his first two features, filmmaker Cory Finley will surely deliver future projects that inspire thought and soul-searching.

Opens in theaters on August 18, 2023.

'Landscape with Invisible Hand' is a story about Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk) and his family, Beth (Tiffany Haddish) and Natalie (Brooklynn MacKinzie), and how they struggle to survive in a world invaded with coffee table-sized aliens. Five years after their arrival, the Vuvv - a seemingly benovlent race of quadrepeds - have made most jobs and businesses obsolete, but when Adam meets Chloe (Kylie Rogers) and they devise a way to make money by live streaming their romance, Adam's life becomes even more complicated with threats of an alien lawsuit.

This film is shot well and the acting is okay. The flow gets muddled in the middle and seems to drag a bit. The special effects are well done, but the big drawback is the point of the film - what is it? So many questions are left unanswered and the film may leave viewers wondering why they spent the last couple hours watching.

Maybe skip this one.

Man I don't know what to say, but I will say this they did good advertising for this movie but finally got to watching this movie and it started out as boy meets girl ok this is how it gonna be, but then they through some drama in it but it didn't last long then when you think it's gonna be some comedy for just a second it started being serious, and at one point you kinda feel like there is a meaning behind it then it doesn't go anywhere this movie falls flat hell the ending doesn't go anywhere but maybe I'm asking for too much now I see why this was a limited release, it's like a screenplay that should of stayed on a stage if I said that right??

The Vuvv represent all the worst aspects of modern, neo-liberal capitalism, imposing a world order in which one can only survive by being their direct servants, their paid mouthpieces (and they'll alter your message or art to make sure its acceptable), or by underbidding everyone else to sell one's labor, although that last option leaves you and yours only barely scraping by.

Unions are obviously a thing of the past, and cultural imperialism is being implemented to assimilate humans into the Vuvv way. It's all straight out of the playbooks of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Reason and The Economist, The Cato Institute and more think tanks than you could shake a stick at. Unfortunately for humanity, the Vuvv breath life into a theory and practice of neo-liberalism, whether it's called Reaganism, Thatcherism or Blairism, that is intellectually and empirically worn out, and can now only be implemented by fascists wearing a populist face.

In other words, Landscape with Invisible Hand stands in the grand tradition of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, hiding themes and messages meant for today behind science fiction trappings. Overall, it's a good film, and a nice break from dystopian fiction in the style of A Quite Place, The Walking Dead and The Rest of Us.

An interesting dystopia where an alien species takes over human civilization rendering everything we do as meaningless. The the film pokes fun at our current lifestyles of watching streams and 'useless' jobs. The aliens have an answer for everything so most of human society is left to decay while a few lucky ones are invited to live with the aliens in their floating cities. The aliens find our Pop culture interesting and appear to be keeping us around as amusement. Not a lot happens in the movie and it meanders from scene to scene trying to make clever commentary about the stupidity of it all. The last five minutes are shot in the dark and completely pointless - seems like the makers hasn't written an ending.

Overall, I liked the idea. Execution was not too bad either. But the casting... It made this movie a wannabe contender according to Oscar's diversity criteria, yet the actors' selection was so poor it hurts to watch.

I am not a quitter but was seriously tempted to press the stop on the remote.

Moreover, now I am tempted to check out the original book ad see if the screen version reflects the actual intention of the book, or it was an outcome of producers' vision.

If anything, this is the movie would be a great candidate for a remake.

With that, I will not discouraging people from watching it, but get ready for disappointment - if you have a problem with the first 10 minutes of visuals, it won't get any better.

I was looking for a quirky sci-fi movie, and this fit the bill.

You know the setup. An alien race called the Vuvv have come to Earth and become an accepted part of day-to-day life. They've provided a great deal of enabling technology to the human race, but in the process have rendered much of human activity obsolete, leaving a lot of disenfranchised people.

Chloe, a girl whose family has found reasonable success under the Vuvv, meets Adam, a boy whose family lost their home and is living out of their car. She convinces her mom to let the family stay in their basement.

A romance begins to develop between the two, which Chloe decides to exploit by creating a mental "reality show" for the Vuvv, who are asexual and fascinated by human relationships. If nothing else, it's an original concept.

As others have pointed out, the biggest problem with this movie is that it can't decide what it is. The goofy looking aliens and some other elements seem to set it up as a farce, but although there are some farcical beats, it's not really a comedy and instead takes a stab at ham handed social commentary.

The other problem with the movie is that the behavior of the characters are kind of inexplicable at times. The relationship between the two protagonists runs hot and cold and we're not sure if we're supposed to root for them or not. Also, the behavior of Adam's family is just bizarre. Far from being appreciative for being given a place to stay, they immediately act resentful.

It had its bright spots. The acting was pretty good, particularly Tiffany Haddish in a non-comedy role. The special effects were excellent, and it was weird and quirky enough to hold my interest.

If that's what you're looking for, this is worth watching.