31 Days of Hell: We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) - Reviewed

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Courtesy of Utopia

In a post-Timur Bekmambetov produced webcam do-it-yourself no-budget horror film world, the debut film of writer-director Jane Schoenbrun, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, might be the very first coming-of-age webcam horror movie the world has ever seen.  With so many of them designed to be cheap transitory thrills to be enjoyed for two hours and then forgotten, Schoenbrun’s insightful and observant film which played at Sundance and is set to play on October 21st as part of the Nightmares Film Festival is a much needed breath of fresh air and quality boost to what many otherwise consider to be a misbegotten subgenre of cinema verite. 

Courtesy of Utopia
Teenage girl Casey (Anna Robb) sits alone in her attic bedroom at night with the walls adorned with glow-in-the-dark posters lit by blacklights, perusing the internet.  On this very night, Casey hastily embarks on a viral social media challenge known as the World’s Fair Challenge which involves a series of strobing lights and strange sounds.  After taking the challenge she begins documenting on video for the internet to see the changes which may or may not be happening to her.  As she gets further enmeshed in the challenge and starts losing her grip on reality, a mercurial figure from the depths of the internet reaches out to her saying they see something special in her video uploads.

Courtesy of Utopia
A coming-of-age drama at heart that flirts throughout with horror including a grisly vista of a character pulling what looks like a ribbon from their arm, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is one of the best possible webcam thrillers which is actually invested in its characters rather than just serving up dull teen archetypes to be killed on camera.  Seen entirely from the perspective of Casey, we’re drawn into her lonely and isolated world lived largely in social media.  Unlike the exploitative Megan is Missing which only aimed to shock, We’re All going to the World’s Fair is a sensitive and well thought out as well as beautifully acted endeavor.
 
Though the film uses a mixture of preexisting and newly staged YouTube video clips, its shot handsomely by Daniel Patrick Carbone and sports a nice original score by Alex G which only really comes alive when it has to.  Mostly though, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is a one woman show about the ways social media have forever changed the social fabric that brings people together for better or worse with a gifted performance from its young leading actress.

Courtesy of Utopia
Unlike the other webcam horror films that continue to come and go as they’re so inexpensive to produce, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is less in line with the likes of Unfriended and instead is closer to the worldview held by David Fincher’s The Social Network and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse.  Whatever fears and woes we may have about the ways with which the worldwide web has transformed how we interact with one another, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair all but confirms it is already too late for us and there’s no turning back.

--Andrew Kotwicki