“You see much more than what you see with your eyes open…”
That's not just a line from the newly released trailer for Invention—it's a manifesto. This isn't a film that fits neatly into the indie drama category. Instead, Hernandez and Stephens have crafted something altogether more experimental: a meditation on loss, conspiracy, and the American obsession with alternative healing, all wrapped in the eerie glow of archival footage and speculative fiction.
At its core, Invention follows Carrie Fernandez (Callie Hernandez), a woman who inherits her late father's patent for an experimental healing device after his unexpected death. But this isn't just any inheritance—it's the key to unlocking a tangled web of personal and societal anxieties. The film blurs fiction and reality by incorporating real footage of Hernandez's actual father, an alternative health doctor whose TV appearances spanned decades. The result? A film that doesn't just depict grief—it enacts it.
With a supporting cast that includes Sahm McGlynn, Tony Torn, Lucy Kaminsky, and indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg, Invention builds an unsettling yet strangely nostalgic vision of an America where hopeful fictions and toxic nostalgia collide.
Grief stories are nothing new, but Invention takes a different approach. It's not just about mourning a lost parent—it's about reckoning with the weight of their beliefs, their myths, and their contradictions.
The film's aesthetic—pieced together from archival footage, dreamlike sequences, and stark documentary-style cinematography by Rafael Palacio Illingworth—mirrors our fragmented digital age, where old VHS tapes and YouTube conspiracy videos hold equal weight in shaping narratives.
By weaving reality and fiction together, Hernandez and Stephens tap into a growing trend in cinema: grief as an interactive process. Much like Aftersun (2022) or A Ghost Story (2017), Invention doesn't just tell a story—it invites viewers to reconstruct one from fragments.
Premiering at Locarno in 2024—where it won the Pardo Award for Best Performance—Invention has already proven itself to be a festival darling. With a theatrical run kicking off April 18, 2025, at NYC's Metrograph, it's poised to challenge audiences in ways most films don't dare to.
Is it for everyone? Absolutely not. But if you're the kind of cinephile who craves films that linger in your subconscious long after the credits roll, Invention might just be the most fascinating thing you'll see this year.
Your Thoughts? Does Invention sound like your kind of film, or does its abstract approach seem too unconventional? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
