Baby Invasion: Friday's screening

"This is not a movie. This is a game. This is not a game. This is real life. This is not real life. There is no real life."

American filmmaker Harmony Korine (Gummo, Spring Breakers) has been pushing the boundaries of cinema—and good taste—since the 1990s, and the enfant terrible’s latest work is no exception. The second feature from his own production company EDGLRD (heh heh...) was born out of Korine’s frustration with traditional narrative cinema, which he believes has lost touch with the way people consume media today.

Baby Invasion is Korine’s response to our gamified everyday reality—and his twisted take on Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. The film is a "live stream" of an ultra-realistic, multiplayer first-person shooter game leaked onto the dark web, in which a group of mercenaries disguised as baby avatars infiltrate the mansions of the ultra-wealthy with murderous intent. An original score by Burial drives forward the experience which blends live-action, AI-generated animations, game engine graphics, and a constantly scrolling Twitch chat. “toast to the void bruh,” “it’s all simulation anyway,” “is it me or is he channeling some next level Bach-energy,” “zoning out in a nihilistic trance” – the bots sum it up perfectly.

The film can be approached as a meme or a shitpost—or more straightforwardly, as an 80-minute-long Burial music video. This screening is the Finnish premiere of the film.

Director: Harmony Korine

Year: 2024

Runtime: 80 min

Language: no dialogue

Rating: R (18+)