Greatland

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Greatland is weird. That is not so much criticism as it is irrefutable fact. Writer-director Dana Ziyasheva built a colorful, outrageous and highly stylized world and populated it with even more colorful personalities and plot lines. Set in the distant future, and perhaps in an even more distant universe, Greatland explores the universal themes of love and self-acceptance from a unique perspective that employs too many metaphors to count and broad, abstract strokes of plot. These bubblegum pop visuals and ambitious themes blend well enough, resulting in a manically atmospheric film with a storyline that may be hard for some to follow.

Ulysses (Arman Darbo) is their mother’s non-binary bundle of joy. Their mother, Lady Omega (Jackie Loeb),  is a disembodied voice that communicates via the smartwatch affixed to their wrist. Ulysses’ father is a mystery. In Greatland people are free to be who they want to be – but not without exception. There is a rivalry between the Felinists and the non-Felinists that inspires an election between dog loves and cat lovers. There are neon-clad dominatrices, rampant pandemic references, promises of immortality, countercultures called Greats and Altruists and a little bit of love thrown into the mix.

Do you have all of that? Great, now let’s get to the central plot of the story. Ulysses is best friends with a young woman named Ugly Duck (Chloe Ray Warmoth) whom they think they might have romantic feelings for. As they allow themselves the freedom to explore those feelings their union is interrupted and Ugly Duck is forsaken. Ulysses then must embark on a journey to save Ugly Duck to bring their potential love to fruition. Embedded in a culture of saccharine sameness, Ulysses meets Greatland’s social outcasts Altruists who are trying to stop the pandemic, and clerks.

Inclusion and acceptance are a through-line in Greatland, though it is often difficult to determine whether or not Ziyasheva believes that radical acceptance is the way to go. The film is somehow both Orwellian and Willy Wonk-ian; a dystopia dipped in a colorful, sugary coating to help the medicine go down. Greatland is presented as…a great land; however, there are undertones of invasive technology and intolerance for the alternative, but the other worlds that Ulysses discovers on their travels are not utopian either.

Greatland is not an understated film and the performances in the film match the tone. The characters are outlandish, outrageous products of their environments. Our hero Ulysses might be the most distilled characters – making room for standout performances by Nick Moran’s Clerk and Eric Roberts’ unsettling Alpha Altruist. As a director, Ziyasheva certainly knows what she’s doing. The performances she pulled from her cast are formidable and her style is already distinct, despite this being only her second directing credit. The writing in Greatland could use some tightening up, but the visuals are enough to keep viewers engaged for the one hour and forty-minute runtime.

Greatland might not be your first pick on movie night, but if you’re feeling bold and in need of some electricity in your life go ahead and turn it on. The richness of the visuals, the bold colors and extensive world-building will at the very least inspire you to attend a rave or seek out an alternative reality where inflatable rainbows and pink shag carpets are respectable, mature décor.