Jane Schoenbrun’s atmospheric film *We’re All Going to the World’s Fair* explores digital culture’s psychological allure through the left-handed gaze of its protagonist, Casey. The 2021 Sundance debut earned critical acclaim for its unflinching portrayal of adolescence in an algorithmically saturated world.
Casey’s immersion in a viral online “challenge” metamorphoses into a visceral quantification of personal transformation. Through bloodletting rituals and distorted self-reports, the narrative follows her digital pilgrimage where each uploaded video documents her metamorphosis into a fragmented, pixelated entity represented by the therapeutic video game *Tetris*.
What distinguishes this coming-of-age horror is its deliberate avoidance of gratuitous sexualization. Instead, Schoenbrun crafts a narrative where Casey’s physical discomfort becomes a metaphor for digital alienation, as she navigates an online community populated by macroscopic avatars and coded prophets.
The enigmatic figure of JLB introduces dynamics of digital paternalism. His persistent presence in Casey’s virtual space creates paradoxical tension between intervention and enmeshment, raising questions about online authority structures and the performative nature of digital care.
By maintaining deliberate ambiguity about the challenge’s metaphysical implications, the film resists binary interpretations. This narrative uncertainty effectively mirrors the amorphous nature of internet identity, allowing viewers to inhabit Casey’s existential liminality without simplification.
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