Demonic Synthwave GTA: Vice City Cutscenes To Study To.

Feels weird to have a lukewarm reaction to this considering I watched it at the midnight premiere in Toronto with a packed, interactive crowd and Harmony Korine on stage in a demon mask declaring himself the "new Drake." But there's a reason the glowing reviews and hate-filled ones sound identical, and that's because Korine's only real instinct here is shallow genre incantation and BASED VIBES surface provocations that suit the name of his new production company, both of which have been smuggled into a movie mostly about how much of a Cool Dad he is. He plays video games and watches TikToks!

Now he's smart enough to know what he's doing (and in some ways, is a very cool dad) which means even when he's trolling he's going to show you some genuinely unbelievable images you've never seen before—if you've ever wondered what a glitchy, tropical, psychedelic snuff film might look like, Harmony has you covered—but it also limits this to improvised, experimental curio rather than the full-blown Mann and Malick MTV fantasy neo-noir transcendence of Spring Breakers; where the music video aesthetic/formal choices were genuinely expressive and not just a series of honestly pretty goofy poses. Aggro Dr1ft certainly feels like the ambient, vulgar trance-poem you'll see people describe it as, just not one designed to really be engaged with (no one who made it sounds like they were) as much as zoned in and out of while chuckling and stoned on the couch with some friends. 

If that's all you wanted out of this, fair enough. The colors are very pretty and I will confess to a lot of laughs at some of the incredible videogame-inspired dialogue/voice-over and physical choreography choices. Also enjoyed a lot of the music, which Harmony swore during the Q&A was all MP3 tracks sent to him via text message from the composer having not seen the movie. Would love for someone to try and verify if that’s true or if he’s just being his little prankster self.