Landscape with Invisible Hand
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: August 18, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAug 17, 2023
It's an incisive, intriguing, and ultimately moving look at America's ongoing socioeconomic collapse: The whole "kids streaming their first slow dance" thing is just one aspect of this rich and nuanced drama. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicKaely MonahanAug 17, 2023
The first word that comes to mind when watching Landscape With Invisible Hand is "weird." It’s very weird. But in the most thoughtful way possible. This sci-fi film packs originality in every scene and plot point. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonAug 16, 2023
Landscape With Invisible Hand is a bizarre, off-kilter experience that shows us how we are destroying ourselves, no aliens necessary. Read full review
75
ObserverDylan RothAug 15, 2023
Landscape with Invisible Hand is a cutting satire about economic imperialism, the commodification of culture, and the degrees to which human beings are forced to debase themselves in order to survive. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenAug 18, 2023
Although Finley, who previously directed the Emmy-winning Hugh Jackman drama “Bad Education,” doesn’t quite manage to sustain the film’s irreverent energy, especially during its more melancholic second half, he handily succeeds in delivering a piece of entertainment that is at once wildly out of this world and all-too-relevantly down to earth. Read full review
67
ColliderRoss BonaimeFeb 9, 2023
Landscape with Invisible Hand is certainly a mixed bag that isn’t nearly as tight as Finley’s previous work, but the bold attempt to make something so unique and singular makes this wild story ultimately work. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesChase HutchinsonAug 17, 2023
As Finley manages a last unassuming gut punch, it strikes painfully true. It provides one final drop of mundane dread that reveals how the most comprehensively exploitative of systems can become terrifyingly normal. Good thing that’s only science fiction. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 15, 2023
Based on the novel of the same name by M.T. Anderson, the third effort from the talented Finley (“Thoroughbreds,” “Bad Education”) features some impressively staged sequences and terrific performances, but awkwardly straddles the fence between biting social commentary and dark humor, never quite finding its footing and ending on a curiously flat note. Read full review
60
IGNErik AdamsAug 23, 2023
Landscape with Invisible Hand is brimming with ideas and storylines, but they never come together as a satisfying whole. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredMartin CarrJan 31, 2023
Landscape with Invisible Hand is more social commentary than alien infused rom-com. With some solid performances from Chloe Rogers and Assante Blackk, this adaptation of the M T Anderson novel will offer audiences food for thought. Read full review
60
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJan 28, 2023
It’s a fascinating story to balance, and though it doesn’t always work, Finley really runs with the concept and its various themes. It’s safe to say there’s never a dull moment in the film, and it isn’t predictable in terms of what comes next. Read full review
60
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 28, 2023
Blackk makes for a great protagonist, and Haddish gets some big laughs here and there, but the rest of the cast feels slightly lost, primarily because the story introduces them only to then have them fade into the background. Read full review
60
The VergeAndrew WebsterJan 28, 2023
Messy as the movie can get in its back half, it’s saved by some great performances — Blackk feels like a star in the making, and Haddish is as charming as ever — and a heartwarming finale that makes the best of terrible situation. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsAug 18, 2023
Finley deserves credit for adding extra wrinkles to Anderson’s story, but Landscape with Invisible Hand doesn’t cut deep enough to leave a mark. Read full review
50
The New York TimesClaire ShafferAug 17, 2023
Landscape With Invisible Hand mashes up the teen romantic comedy and alien-invasion horror genres to campy, mixed results. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadayAug 16, 2023
With the exception of a few choice words from Haddish, Landscape With Invisible Hand lacks the kind of steady humor and energy that would otherwise keep the story afloat. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 28, 2023
Finley often seems to be at the mercy of his material’s strangeness. He stages most scenes with a vacuum-sealed flatness, as if unsure how else to focus our attention on what’s sucking the life out of the film’s world, and his cast — who can only stretch their characters’ shared frustration so far — are left with little to do but lean into the anti-drama of intergalactic domination. Read full review
50
The PlaylistJason BaileyJan 28, 2023
There’s a curious shortage of honest-to-goodness laughs in Finley’s script; the humor is strained, and it doesn’t really land as science-fiction either. ... “Landscape with Invisible Hand” is, at best, an ambitious failure. Read full review
42
The Film StageJordan RaupJan 28, 2023
Initially intrigues with its lo-fi sci-fi ambition but has too much on its mind without saying anything interesting at all. Read full review
40
TheWrapLena WilsonJan 28, 2023
Where Anderson went to great lengths to address some salient topics in his novel — like colonialism, the American healthcare system, and the obsolescence of the working class — Finley’s “Landscape” lacks the worldbuilding necessary to make any such strong connections. This could be a scathing indictment of our country’s growing class divide. Instead, it’s a nice-looking, entertaining movie that conveniently pulls its punches. Read full review
40
VarietyTomris LafflyJan 28, 2023
Finley loses his exacting handle on the material, allowing the story’s more commonplace ideas to dictate its direction in ways both unsurprising and a little rough around the edges. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 28, 2023
A bafflingly botched misfire ... Quite what the film is and who it’s for remains a head-scratcher, a stilted jumble of somethings boiling down to nothing. Read full review
30
The Daily BeastColeman SpildeJan 28, 2023
Less than halfway into its already brief runtime, Landscape starts to fall apart at the seams. The film bungles its promise with a confused mixture of half-baked ideas that miss their mark entirely, all while it struggles to probe the concept of humor with a cold, alien touch. Read full review
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