We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021 | USA | 96 minutes | Jane Schoenbrun)
There is so much that just completely knocks you flat with We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, an incisive and stirring look at what it means to grow up in near complete isolation with the internet as your primary conduit to the world. It is a horror film, yes, though a deeply personal and unsettling kind of story that makes it one of the most outstanding debuts of recent memory. The story is simple and stripped down, though deeply expansive in its emotional range. It follows young Casey, played by an incredible Anna Cobb in her feature film debut, as she undertakes the mysterious online World’s Fair challenge. It requires her to prick her finger, repeat a few phrases, and then monitor to see if she develops any symptoms. It has become a widespread challenge and Casey spends much of her time watching video after video of those who have also taken part in the role playing game.
The ‘challenge’ is merely the backdrop for what ends up being an arresting look at what it means to be alone and looking for some sort of connection. Casey finds meaning through what she does, though it is only a temporary escape from a troubled home life that makes it so she feels safe only up in her attic room. That is where a large portion of the film takes place, though it is by no means constricting to the story. The room feels like a place of refuge, though it soon becomes a suffocating trap when Casey begins to spiral and loose sense of her reality. The more she plays, the more she struggles to maintain a grip on what is real. The closest reference point I can think of for the film is 2018’s Eighth Grade, though We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is fair more ambitious in both scope and tone. The connection stems from how authentic and precise the film is at capturing what the internet has to offer beyond just the bright sheen of the surface. It goes far deeper and excavates the more honest reality of what is to be found there.
Writer, director, and editor Jane Schoenbrun has absolutely captured the sadness lurking underneath a platform like YouTube. Beyond the happy vloggers are people who are just posting themselves, revealing their own insecurities to an audience of less than 20. That subset of people is a group that Schoenbrun turns a sharp yet compassionate eye on, revealing all of who they are and why they continue to do it. It isn’t YouTube exactly, though the sequences where the videos autoplay on repeat while Casey observes captures the feeling to an unsettling degree. It shows random videos, yes, though they are by no means purposeless. What Schoenbrun is showing us is the type of people that can get lost to this world and never connect with anyone more than a handful of viewers, though they keep making them for some sense of connection. Casey begins to take part in this journey of self exploration through uploading that gives Schoenbrun plenty of room to play with the idea about whether it is really a game to her. Casey is struggling. That struggle is captured in detail that can often be absurd, even strange, though no less upsetting as the outlet she has found in the internet only puts off the looming decline she is facing. There has yet to be a more honest film about growing up with the internet than this one.
It is impossible to shake how just truly monumental of an achievement it is to capture that youthful sense of alienation mixed with isolation, though Schoenbrun has done just that and more. It is an immense achievement that marks the arrival of a remarkable new voice for filmmaking. For those that have some understanding about how the internet inexorably shaped lives of so many, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is not just prophetic, it feels as close to a documentary as one could imagine. It profiles people who latch onto and find purpose through a game for their own personal reasons. The more you learn about the personal reasons these characters have for this connection, the more it completely draws you in. It is what cinema can and should be: a distinct look at a group of people who are trying to live their lives in a world where they have found themselves lost.
It must be seen.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is set to release sometime in 2021 from HBO Max and Utopia.