This eerie coming-of-age story set in the age of the internet is a tense dysphoric trip into the world of online creepypastas
★★★★✰
Try the new internet challenge. Look into the camera and repeat “I want to go to the world’s fair” three times, prick your finger, smudge the blood over the computer screen and watch the ‘world’s fair’ video. Or at least that’s how it goes in Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. The film first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year and has now come to the City Kino Wedding screens as part of the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair opens with a shot of teenager Casey (Anna Cobb) sitting alone in her room eating a cheese string and preparing to perform one of these “world’s fair” challenges. Casey uploads these videos near-constantly, with the practice beginning to loosen her grip on reality (one video is titled “tour of my high school” and is certainly not what it says). She continues to upload these videos, despite the effect they are having on her mental health, seemingly out of a desire for acceptance. Unlike many films that cover the topic of social media, Casey doesn’t appear to be motivated by a desire for fame, and with the introduction of adult “world’s fair” expert JLB (Michael J Rogers) the film further probes Casey’s subjectivity, as the viewer has to question the oddness of the developing friendship between the two.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair marks the feature film debut of Anna Cobb, and if there’s one thing audiences will take away from this film it’s that Cobb is certainly one to watch out for in upcoming releases. Starring as Casey, Cobb personifies the vulnerable and terrifying adolescence of those growing up in the time of the internet. Casey posts her teenage vulnerability online for an audience, in one video in which she’s singing and dancing, she pauses letting out an anguished scream, only to then immediately start dancing once again. People may do something along these lines in private, but here it is spread across the internet for strangers, and anyone else, to see.
Casey’s youthful naivety contrasts with the character of JLB, an older man who contacts Casey saying that he’s worried about her. JLB appears to have much more knowledge about the “world fair” challenge, some of which he tells Casey, while some of it he appears to keep secret. JLB only ever appears on Casey’s screen as a drawing, meaning that although she is aware he is an older man, she doesn’t know much about him, while he ultimately knows a lot about her creating something of an unhealthy power dynamic between the two. JLB appears to live an isolated existence, at one point we see a woman (possibly his wife?) in the background but nothing is ever expanded upon, leaving the viewer with as much information on JLB as Casey. JLB is an interesting character, as he does seem to be motivated by worry for Casey, as opposed to anything nefarious, but he is still a creeping presence in the life of Casey, a vulnerable teenage girl.
Written and directed by non-binary filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair can be seen as an allegory of the trans-experience and the dysphoria that comes with this. The challenge itself promises to ‘transform’ the individuals who take part, while Casey experiences a form of isolation that many queer teenagers will be familiar with. While growing up online, and forming friendships and relationships (whether healthy or unhealthy) with others over the internet isn’t a uniquely queer experience, it is something that is quite common among those who, like Casey, are unable to talk to their parents about their concerns and issues.
The film has been shot and edited in a way that is somewhat inspired by found-footage films, the popular horror sub-genre. However, here the footage isn’t found in some dusty old storage unit, nor are we left to wonder about the people in the footage and what happened to them afterwards. Sometimes we see Casey film and upload the video, and sometimes we only see the video as JLB watches it once it has been uploaded. This adds to the film’s eeriness as, like JLB and any other viewer of the videos, we don’t know if Casey is faking her creepy behaviour or if she has truly lost her grip on reality. We truly do not know if the World’s Fair challenge is real and is transforming participants into something else, or if it is just a popular online RPG.
The soundtrack, by Alex G, and sound-editing, by Eli Cohn and Jack Sasner, add to the atmospheric feel of the film. Moments of silence preceed creepy shots warning Casey that she is in danger. The videos that we see Casey view are filled with eerie and creepy music; music plays in the background as girls, who claim they’re turning into plastic or growing demon wings stare into the camera. The positive and upbeat song that Casey sings and dances to in her videos, ‘Love in Winter’, is totally at odds with the atmosphere of the film, making what should be a happy moment of a teenage girl dancing in her room into something more sinister and creepy, especially when she pauses to scream.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is an eerie story of a teenage girl drawn into the world of an online creepypasta RPG. With great acting and a menacingly creepy story, it is certainly one to watch when it releases in the UK.
The Verdict
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair makes for a deeply uncomfortable but necessary viewing that many who grew up in the age of social media will sadly relate to.
Words by Isobel Pankhurst
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair screened as part of Final Girls Berlin Film Festival 2022
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