We're All Going to the World's Fair

We're All Going to the World's Fair is a 2021 American coming-of-age horror film[6] written, directed, and edited by Jane Schoenbrun. The film stars Michael J. Rogers and Anna Cobb in her debut role.[7] David Lowery served as an executive producer.[8]

We're All Going to the World's Fair
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJane Schoenbrun
Written byJane Schoenbrun
Produced by
  • Sarah Winshall
  • Carlos Zozaya
Starring
CinematographyDaniel Patrick Carbone[1]
Edited byJane Schoenbrun
Music byAlex G[2]
Production
companies
  • Dweck Productions
  • Flies Collective
Distributed byUtopia
Release dates
  • January 31, 2021 (2021-01-31) (Sundance)[3]
  • April 15, 2022 (2022-04-15) (United States)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$106,644[4][5]

The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021.[3] It was then released in U.S. theaters by Utopia on April 15, 2022, and streaming on HBO Max on September 1, 2022.[9][10]

Plot

Casey, a lonely teenage girl living with her single father, decides to record herself taking the viral "World's Fair Challenge". She states "I want to go to the World's Fair" three times on camera, pricks her finger, smears some of her blood on her laptop computer screen, and watches a short strobe light video, before saying she will post updates if she starts to notice any "changes."

Other World's Fair challengers record and post their own psychological and physical changes. In Casey's next video, she recounts bouts of sleepwalking she experienced when she was younger and says she has begun feeling similarly since taking the challenge. Late one night, she sneaks into her shed, where she finds her father's shotgun. She then watches an ASMR video of a young woman calming someone after a nightmare before a disturbing video made to her from user "JLB" plays, featuring Casey's distorted face along with the messages "YOU ARE IN TROUBLE" and "I NEED TO TALK TO YOU."

Casey reaches out to JLB, a collaborator with other World's Fair challengers, and speaks with him over Skype. JLB claims to worry about Casey after the symptoms she reported in her last post, and encourages her to keep making videos so he can monitor her wellbeing. JLB is revealed to be an equally lonely middle-aged man who spends his time watching other people's World's Fair videos.

JLB watches another video of Casey's that she recorded while she slept, during which she appears to pull herself out of bed with a menacing smile. JLB informs her through another personal video that the forces behind the World's Fair are taking her over, and that she should continue posting videos. The content of Casey's videos becomes increasingly disturbing, including one where she inexplicably screams in terror while recording herself singing and dancing to a song, another where she states her intention to use her father's gun to kill either him or herself, and another where she ominously states she will one day "disappear" and nobody will ever figure out what has happened to her.

In her next video, she covers her face and arms in glow paint in her blacklit bedroom and tears apart the stuffed animal she has slept with since she was a newborn. She then appears to snap out of it and tearfully expresses regret when she sees the ruined toy. In her next conversation with JLB, he says he needs to ask her a question, but that they must "go out of game" first. He admits he continues to worry about her and says he has even considered calling the police to do a wellness check on her. Casey seems surprised by JLB's statement that the Fair is just a game, but quickly regains her composure and angrily asserts that her videos were not real, that she was only playing along with the challenge, and that Casey is not even her real name. She cuts off contact with him, and he tries in vain to convince her to continue making videos.

Some time later, JLB recounts having been contacted by Casey a year after the events of the film, meeting and eventually befriending her in New York City where she is currently living. It is left ambiguous whether this meeting actually happened or not.

Cast

A number of performers appear in various real and staged YouTube videos, including Theo Anthony, Evan Santiago, May "NyxFears" Leitz, N8 Detroit, Trevor Lahey and the ASMR content creator Slight Sounds.[11][12]

Release

The film had its premiere in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021 in the Next section.[13]

The film had its Asian Premiere at the 2021 Perspectives Film Festival on October 21, 2021 in Singapore.[14]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, the film earned $12,750 from three theaters in its opening weekend.[15]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 118 critics, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The critics consensus reads: "Narratively challenging and visually haunting, We're All Going to the World's Fair adds a uniquely ambitious and unsettling entry to the crowded coming-of-age genre."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 78 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[17]

Some reviewers have interpreted the film as having themes of gender dysphoria.[18] Of this, Schoenbrun, who is nonbinary, has said that they were trying "to do something that felt truthful to [their] coming-out process."[18]

References
  1. "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production – We're All Going to the World's Fair". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  2. Christie, Erin (December 17, 2020). "Alex G scoring new film 'We're All Going to the World's Fair'". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  3. "Sundance - FPG". Sundance. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  4. "We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  5. "We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  6. Crump, Andy (January 31, 2021). "We're All Going to the World's Fair's Creepypasta Is Affecting Coming-of-Age Horror". Paste. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  7. Means, Sean P. (December 15, 2020). "Here are the 72 feature films in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which will mostly screen online". sltrib.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  8. Suh, Elissa (April 13, 2022). "How Jane Schoenbrun's 'emo horror movie' helped them find themself". Input Magazine. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  9. Wiseman, Andreas (May 4, 2021). "HBO Max & Utopia Pick Up Sundance Coming-Of-Age Horror 'We're All Going To The World's Fair'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  10. @janeschoenbrun (September 1, 2022). "It's WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR IS NOW ON HBOMAX day !!!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved September 1, 2022 – via Twitter.
  11. Smith, Orla (February 3, 2020). "Jane Schoenbrun wants We're All Going to the World's Fair to 'scare you and make you cry". Seventh Row. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  12. "HBO Max & Utopia Pick Up Sundance Coming-Of-Age Horror 'We're All Going To The World's Fair'". www.msn.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  13. Debruge, Peter (December 15, 2020). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright". Variety. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  14. "Films". Perspectives Film Festival. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  15. "Domestic 2022 Weekend 15". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  16. "We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  17. "We're All Going to the World's Fair". Metacritic.
  18. Kinney-Kobre, Hannah. "Trans filmmaker explores dysphoria through internet horror in We're All Going to the World's Fair". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
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