Get ready for a cinematic experience like no other. Groundbreaking filmmaker Harmony Korine, known for movies like Gummo (1997) and Spring Breakers (2012), is back with a bizarre film that mixes first-person shooter (FPS) video games, AI, babies, and class war. We’re talking about Baby Invasion, which premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, and whose official trailer has just released.
Give it to Harmony Korine to take unexpected turns. Equally praised and divisive, the American director is known for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to project on the silver screen, testing the audience’s limits and opening up new worlds of possibilities. In Baby Invasion, he takes the experience of playing video games to the next level, turning the viewer into a mercenary that breaks into rich people’s mansions. These group of armed criminals use AI to disguise, turning their faces into that of newborns, to then commit some atrocities.
The idea behind Harmony Korine’s new film is that we are the ones playing this dark web-leaked game, blurring the lines between the digital and the real world — think David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (1999) but adapted to today’s times, where live streaming services like Twitch and the rise of e-games is unstoppable.