Landscape With Invisible Hand is a 2023 American Science Fiction/comedy/drama film directed by Cory Finley. It premiered at Sundance.
Five years ago, the alien species known as the Vuuv came to Earth with technology that far outstripped anything humans could create. Unfortunately, the technology resulted in driving most humans into poverty when their businesses couldn't compete with the Vuuv. While the remaining elite humans live in paradisiacal residences on floating cities alongside their Vuuv masters, everyone else is stuck on Earth's surface and is just trying to get by.
Adam Campbell (Asante Blackk) is a high schooler with a penchant for painting who lives with his mother (Tiffany Haddish) and sister (Brooklynn MacKenzie) in a house they may not be able to afford for much longer. During a school art class he meets new student Chloe Marsh (Kylie Rogers), whose family lost everything after the Vuuv arrived and who are now homeless. Adam is charmed by Chloe and impulsively invites her family to live in his home's basement, and the two begin dating. Then Chloe suggests they use Vuuv recorders to livestream their dates, since Vuuv like to watch human romances and pay big money to the best streamers. But as the pressures of live-streaming for an alien audience as well as financial anxieties mount, their relationship grows rocky, and a powerful Vuuv threatens to inflict devastating consequences when their broadcast is not to the aliens' liking.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- Bowdlerise: Adam realizes that the Vuuv have done this to his mural by painting smiley faces on all the humans and adding dialogue balloons which have the people thanking the Vuuv for all that they've done.
- Condescending Compassion: The Vuuv who leads Adam through the spaceship is clearly trying to be positive, but he also openly says that Adam's art is 'primitive' and was clearly only made possible by the Vuuv. He also calls humanity's pre-Vuuv culture 'barbaric.'
- Driven to Suicide: The homeroom teacher Mr. Stanley shoots himself after the district buys Vuuv recorded lessons so they can lay off their teaching staff.
- Househusband: Mr. Marsh winds up in this role and clearly detests it.
- Incredibly Conspicuous Drag: After Mr. Marsh replaces Beth as the Vuuv resident's 'wife,' he begins wearing the gown and wig that the Vuuv originally got for Beth. He looks ridiculous and is clearly humiliated, but the Vuuv doesn't seem to care.
- The Namesake: Adam's various art pieces are shown at different points throughout the movie, with the title and medium shown onscreen. The final shot shows him beginning a mural, which shares a name with the film's title.
- Read the Fine Print: The contract that Adam and Chloe signed to broadcast their dates required that all the emotions they expressed be genuine. When they fall out of love but keep broadcasting anyways, a Vuuv demands they repay all their broadcast money (which they already spent), and threatens to sue them to the point where they'll be in debt for six generations if they don't.
- Take a Third Option: With the impossible choice of either repaying money that they already spent or being thrown into debtors' prison, Adam's mother figures out a third option: let one of the Vuuv live with her as her husband so he can experience human relations and emotions up close.
