We're All Going to the World's Fair is a 2021 American coming-of-agehorror film[6] written, directed, and edited by Jane Schoenbrun. The film stars Anna Cobb in her debut role and Michael J. Rogers.[7]David Lowery served as an executive producer.[8]
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]
Casey is a lonely teenage girl who lives with her widower father. One day, she decides to record herself taking the viral "World's Fair Challenge", in which she states, "I want to go to the World's Fair", three times on camera, smears some of her blood on her laptop computer screen and watches a short strobe light video, before saying she will make updates on any "changes" she notices.
Other World's Fair challengers record and post their own psychological and physical changes. Casey's next video recounts bouts of sleepwalking she experienced when she was younger, saying she is 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 the symptoms Casey reported in her last post, and he 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. Casey's mental state begins to deteriorate, which becomes apparent in the stream of videos she continues posting online, including one where she inexplicably screams in terror while recording herself singing and dancing to a song, and then another later one where she states her intention to either murder her father with his gun or kill herself.
In her next video, she covers her face and arms in glow paint in her blacklit bedroom and tears apart the stuffed animal she's slept with since she was a newborn. She then appears to come to, becoming distraught over her toy's destruction. In her next conversation with JLB, he asks to "go out of game" and admits he continues to worry about her and says he once considered calling the police over her videos' content. 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 isn't even her real name. She cuts off contact with him, and he tries in vain to convince her to continue making videos.
One year later, JLB recounts having been contacted by Casey, whom he meets in person and eventually befriends in New York City where she's currently living. It is not confirmed whether this meeting actually happened or not.
A number of performers appear in various real and staged YouTube videos, including Theo Anthony, Evan Santiago, May "NyxFears" Leitz, and the ASMR content creator Slight Sounds.[11][12]
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 91% based on reviews from 64 critics, with an average rating of 7.5/10. 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 79 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[17]
Many reviewers praised the film's evocation of gender dysphoria through horror.[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
^. Variety Insight. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
^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.
^ ab"Sundance - FPG". Sundance. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
^"We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
^"We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
^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.
^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.
^Suh, Elissa (April 13, 2022). "How Jane Schoenbrun's 'emo horror movie' helped them find themself". Input Magazine. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
^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.
^@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.
^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.
^"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.
^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.
^"Films". Perspectives Film Festival. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
^"We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
^"We're All Going to the World's Fair". Metacritic.
^ abKinney-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.
going, world, fair, 2021, american, coming, horror, film, written, directed, edited, jane, schoenbrun, film, stars, anna, cobb, debut, role, michael, rogers, david, lowery, served, executive, producer, theatrical, release, posterdirected, byjane, schoenbrunwri. 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 Anna Cobb in her debut role and Michael J Rogers 7 David Lowery served as an executive producer 8 We re All Going to the World s FairTheatrical release posterDirected byJane SchoenbrunWritten byJane SchoenbrunProduced bySarah Winshall Carlos ZozayaStarringAnna Cobb Michael J RogersCinematographyDaniel Patrick Carbone 1 Edited byJane SchoenbrunMusic byAlex G 2 ProductioncompaniesDweck Productions Flies CollectiveDistributed byUtopiaRelease datesJanuary 31 2021 2021 01 31 Sundance 3 April 15 2022 2022 04 15 United States Running time86 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office 105 341 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 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Release 4 Reception 4 1 Box office 4 2 Critical response 5 References 6 External linksPlot EditCasey is a lonely teenage girl who lives with her widower father One day she decides to record herself taking the viral World s Fair Challenge in which she states I want to go to the World s Fair three times on camera smears some of her blood on her laptop computer screen and watches a short strobe light video before saying she will make updates on any changes she notices Other World s Fair challengers record and post their own psychological and physical changes Casey s next video recounts bouts of sleepwalking she experienced when she was younger saying she is 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 the symptoms Casey reported in her last post and he 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 Casey s mental state begins to deteriorate which becomes apparent in the stream of videos she continues posting online including one where she inexplicably screams in terror while recording herself singing and dancing to a song and then another later one where she states her intention to either murder her father with his gun or kill herself In her next video she covers her face and arms in glow paint in her blacklit bedroom and tears apart the stuffed animal she s slept with since she was a newborn She then appears to come to becoming distraught over her toy s destruction In her next conversation with JLB he asks to go out of game and admits he continues to worry about her and says he once considered calling the police over her videos content 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 isn t even her real name She cuts off contact with him and he tries in vain to convince her to continue making videos One year later JLB recounts having been contacted by Casey whom he meets in person and eventually befriends in New York City where she s currently living It is not confirmed whether this meeting actually happened or not Cast EditAnna Cobb as Casey Michael J Rogers as JLBA number of performers appear in various real and staged YouTube videos including Theo Anthony Evan Santiago May NyxFears Leitz and the ASMR content creator Slight Sounds 11 12 Release EditThe 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 EditBox office Edit In the United States and Canada the film earned 12 750 from three theaters in its opening weekend 15 Critical response Edit On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 91 based on reviews from 64 critics with an average rating of 7 5 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 79 out of 100 based on 15 reviews indicating generally favorable reviews 17 Many reviewers praised the film s evocation of gender dysphoria through horror 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 Edit 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 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 a b Sundance FPG Sundance Retrieved January 6 2021 We re All Going to the World s Fair 2022 The Numbers Nash Information Services LLC Retrieved May 13 2022 We re All Going to the World s Fair 2022 Box Office Mojo IMDb Retrieved May 13 2022 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 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 Suh Elissa April 13 2022 How Jane Schoenbrun s emo horror movie helped them find themself Input Magazine Retrieved April 21 2022 Wiseman Andreas May 4 2021 HBO Max amp Utopia Pick Up Sundance Coming Of Age Horror We re All Going To The World s Fair Deadline Hollywood Retrieved May 4 2021 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 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 HBO Max amp Utopia Pick Up Sundance Coming Of Age Horror We re All Going To The World s Fair www msn com Retrieved May 4 2021 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 Films Perspectives Film Festival Retrieved October 31 2021 Domestic 2022 Weekend 15 Box Office Mojo Retrieved April 19 2022 We re All Going to the World s Fair 2021 Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Retrieved January 29 2022 We re All Going to the World s Fair Metacritic a b 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 External links EditWe re All Going to the World s Fair at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title We 27re All Going to the World 27s Fair amp oldid 1139344546, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
