Friday, December 13 | 5:30 pm
Saturday, December 14 | 8:30 pm
Sunday, December 15 | 2 pm
Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Little Shop of Horrors in the first English-language film from Austrian art-house auteur Jessica Hausner. Little Joe stars 2019 Cannes Best Actress winner Emily Beecham (Hail, Caesar!) and Ben Whishaw (Spectre, The Lobster) as Alice and Chris, a pair of dedicated plant breeders at a corporation engaged in engineering new species. Alice’s new masterpiece is a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value: if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it ‘Little Joe.’ But as their plant grows, so too does Alice’s suspicion that her new creation may not be as harmless as its nickname suggests.
Boasting eye-popping production design, meticulous neon-lit compositions, and an arresting avant-garde score from composer Teiji Ito, Little Joe is a feast for the senses. With her off-kilter sense of humor and distinct feel for performance, Hausner delivers a conceptually audacious parable about how people choose their own happiness. This mesmerizing, nerve-jangling psychological horror film is sure to get under your skin.
Director Jessica Hausner | 2019 | In English | 105 minutes | NR | DCP