A film that includes ‘invisible hand’ in the title is sure to at least aspire to be economically literate and that’s so rare that it’s a must watch for me. The premise is one that I’ve never seen before either. Earth has effectively been conquered by an alien civilization, but through economic, not military means. I have quibbles over exactly how well the aliens are meant to understand human psychology and culture but on the whole I’m very pleased by how this turned out. It has only middling reviews however, leading me to suspect that critics aren’t happy with its very depressing outlook for humanity or don’t understand the economic thinking it is trying to distil.

The arrival of the alien Vuvv civilization in the 2030s have upended all life on Earth. They live on flying cities above the surface, together with the wealthiest humans. By flooding the market with cheap goods and services, they wreck the economy, leaving many jobless and homeless. Teenager Adam Campbell lives with his single mother and his younger sister. They struggle to get by but at least own their own home. At school, he befriends new student Chloe and upon realizing that her family is homeless, offers them a place to stay in the basement of his house. That same day, a teacher announces that he is being replaced by virtual reality lessons delivered to the nodes that are attached to the students’ heads. After that, he commits suicide. When Adam and Chloe’s relationship turns romantic, she suggests that they broadcast their interactions via their nodes as the Vuvv are fascinated by human romantic love and will pay to watch them. They do indeed earn a following and make money to the delight of both their families. But doing so feels increasingly fake to Adam and strains their relationship. Meanwhile the rest of Chloe’s family resents Adam’s mother for being landlords who are richer than them.

This is a low budget film and the mediocre quality sometimes extends even to the acting. I feel that the shots of the aliens and their technology are fine, especially as they try so hard to make the Vuvv truly alien and frail-looking. A more salient critique might be that it’s too heavy-handed in making its point, such as when Chloe’s brother turns very hostile to the Campbells, and the story really has nowhere to go other than keep showing how oppressed humanity is. There’s really no point in having Adam’s father pop up suddenly just to belabor a point that has been repeatedly rammed home already and then he walks off just like that. From a worldbuilding perspective, it’s annoying that on the one hand, the Vuvv seem ignorant enough of human culture to be entranced by old Earth television shows yet are seemingly still sufficiently enough to manipulate Adam’s artwork towards their own propagandistic purposes.

I do love how the film portrays pure economic oppression. Some might question why the humans don’t fight back but there are too many films that are about armed resistance already and it is safe to assume here that the Vuvv too technologically advanced and their civilization, covering multiple galaxies, is too overwhelming to make it practical. There are so many ways to interpret the situation here. Many have pointed out that this is exactly how colonization historically worked. Yet it may be possible to view it in more positive terms such as when someone from a poor country emigrates to a rich one. It may be humiliating for a human neurosurgeon to work as a driver for the Vuvv but as he says he is being paid five times what he would get normally and he and his family get to live in the flying cities. Chloe explicitly uses the phrase “higher order needs” to explain that it’s easy to hold on to your pride and dignity when you don’t need to worry about day-to-day survival. Sure, the Vuvv are the ruling class on Earth and oppress everyone else, but what does that matter to the lower classes who would be oppressed by richer humans anyway? Adam’s own arc suggests a path to persevere and hold on to as much dignity as possible. Even if the Vuvv cannot be economically or militarily defeated, human culture might still be able to influence Vuvv culture enough to effect a more advantageous relationship with humanity. That’s what happened on many occasions throughout history and the Vuvv young seem more amenable to be persuaded and have more affection for humanity.

Maybe I’m reading way too much into a film that is really not that rich at all. The thing is, once the story devolves to outright warfare, it erases so many possibilities. By avoiding all violence and showing different types of economic interactions between the Campbells, the Vuvv and other humans, it shows much more of the richness of such a world. This is by no means a good film, but it is a very interesting one.