Alice, a plant breeder, has engineered a new species of therapeutic flowers, called Little Joes. Take a few whiffs and you’re happy, if not quite as perky as before. But with time the flower proves to be more transformative than thought.
In a strange ambience of serene aesthetics and discordant Japanese music, Hausner’s film recalls today’s widespread use of psychotropic drugs and the artificial sense of well-being they procure. Little Joe can well be seen as a contemporary cousin of the body-snatcher films: at its core it warns of a loss of self.
Country: Austria, Germany, UK
Year: 2019
Runtime: 1hr45
Version: in English, subtitled in French
Director: Jessica Hausner
Producers: Martin Gschlacht, Bruno Wagner, Jessica Hausner
Scenario: Géraldine Bajard, Jessica Hausner
Cast: Emily Beecham, Ben Wishaw, Kerry Fox