Firstly, I made my mother watch this weird title called Little Joe. She likes new movies and she likes sci-fi. The story is easy to navigate so she talks less. Sometimes it’s nice to get everyone in the house to be a little quieter and the Little Joe movie seemed like a good opportunity to do that. Straight off the bat, the thing with this film is it would have been better off as a short film. There just wasn’t enough meat in this sandwich for me. But if you like steady and still narratives, you will probably take a lot away from the story.
The score used is the whimsical snake charm type. It lures you into thinking you’ll get more than you bargained for. However, you don’t. You get exactly what you think you’ll get. Is Little Joe creepy? Sure. And if you need a dose of science fiction in your life, then get onto watching this one.
Alice in Wonderland, But Also Alice the Plant Specialist
The story begins with Alice. She’s been working on a hybrid flower that mucks around with your brain. What could go wrong you ask? Well, nothing and everything of course. The flower in question isn’t a vicious carnivore or anything like that, it’s simply able to emit some chemicals that make you happy. Thinking the process she and her lab friends have just undertaken is perfectly safe, she takes one home to her perfectly reasonable son, Joe.
If you’re wondering how much Alice had to do with making this new flower, she named it ‘Little Joe.’ The corporation she works for is eagerly awaiting the full steam ahead mode so that they can begin to produce these en masse. They want to distribute this flower globally. Why wouldn’t you want everyone to be happy?
Between the use of a sterile environment and the quiet tonal pace interspersed with the lurid trance-like music, it always feels like something big is about to happen. But it doesn’t. There’s a subjective missive about the premise of a plant changing a human’s chemistry so they are no longer worried about anything ever again. There is also a subtext about a mom who works too much. You could relate the messages to pharma drugs or any zombie movie (sans the munching of brains.)
There is plenty of undercurrents to fixate on here, or you could just enjoy the story. The colors in Little Joe are like something out of a subdued Stepford Wives palette. It allows for the flowers to take center stage as a collective form rather than a singular entity. At times, however, they are set up as both.
Attack of the Happy Plant Pollen | Little Joe Film
The flowers begin to emit pollen into the air of the people that tend to them. It’s at this point the changes begin to happen. I know you’re expecting some kind of massive difference, but it’s so subtle even the characters who’re infected say there is hardly any difference. With a great hook line like this, it’s easy to think this movie will be exciting, but it’s more about the undercurrent of the master plan that creeps up on you.
For me, the character that stole the show was Kerry Fox as Bella. I loved what they did with her and how she came across on screen. It starts with her dog which for some reason is allowed free reign within a laboratory setting, but I digress. Bella is the one who recognizes something is off in and around the workplace. It’s a familiar trope to blame her matter-of-factness on being insane but it works in this instance.
Little Joe Movie Trailer
The film, Little Joe was released in the USA on 6th December 2019 after a film festival run that began at Cannes in May. Little Joe’s cast includes Emily Beecham as Alice and she won the best actress award after the movie’s initial screening. February 2020 marks the release for the UK but it’s already on most VOD sites like Apple TV and Google Play as well as in theatres. Directed and written by Jessica Hausner and written by Géraldine Bajard.
Definitely settle in with this one if the plot sounds like your cup of tea.
The Little Joe movie is rated
3 bow down to the flowers out of 5
Little Joe 2019 is Streaming On
Little Joe is streaming on:
