Boys Go to Jupiter: The Gig Economy Animated

A Unique Take on Coming-of-Age in a Strange World

The internet has become a bizarre place, where people engage in all sorts of strange behaviors for love or money. Some stream for hours pretending to be video game NPCs, while others use artificial intelligence to create near-perfect copies of other people's videos. There are even entire accounts dedicated to AI voiceovers of Reddit threads played over Minecraft gameplay. The influencer economy has always been surreal, but the ongoing "enshittification" of the internet, along with the challenges of late-stage capitalism, have made reality stranger than fiction.

Julian Glander’s debut feature film, Boys Go To Jupiter, is a unique and slightly stranger take on this already strange world. It follows a group of teenagers during the awkward week between Christmas and New Year’s, set in a suburban Florida environment that Glander has described as “America’s hell.” The film explores the liminal space between holidays, offering a glimpse into the lives of young people navigating an increasingly chaotic world.

Billy 5000, played by Jack Corbett, is a high-school dropout who works on the delivery app Grubster to make $5,000 before New Year’s. When he isn’t delivering food, he spends time with his friends Freckles (Grace Kuhlenschmidt), Peanut (J.R. Philips), and Beatbox (Elsie Fisher), who provide much of the film’s comic relief. The cast also includes queer comedy stars like Cole Escola, Julio Torres, Eva Victor, and River L. Ramirez. However, unlike the other characters, Freckles, Peanut, and Beatbox remain somewhat shielded from the harsh realities of late capitalism, which are depicted in a more surreal and depressing way throughout the film.

Comparisons and Contrasts

It's hard not to draw comparisons between Boys Go To Jupiter and the animated children's show Steven Universe. While both share a colorful aesthetic and a gentle synthpop soundtrack, they differ greatly in style and audience. Steven Universe was known for its groundbreaking writing and nuanced depictions of trauma and relationships. In contrast, Boys Go To Jupiter focuses on how economic conditions and hustle culture affect our lives and relationships.

The film is a coming-of-age story with a strong sense of class consciousness that sets it apart from others in its genre. Early in the film, Freckles comments on how Billy has changed since turning 16, becoming more mature and focused on work. Billy spends his time delivering food and watching money manifestation videos created by a YouTube grifter. His gig serves as a commentary on late-capitalist alienation and introduces various characters around town, including his former crush Rozebud (Miya Folick), a disaffected daughter of a cyborg scientist named Dr. Dolphin (Janeane Garofalo).

Along the way, Billy befriends an adorable alien creature named Donut, whose shape gives him his name. The film’s final act ties together seemingly disparate characters in a truly surreal way, ending on a note that is as hopeful as it can be given the challenging circumstances faced by the characters.

A Commentary on the Digital Age

In a recent interview, Glander described the film as a commentary on how the tech industry has gamified our lives and sold us pastel fantasies. He pointed out how these changes have restructured our lives, sometimes without our permission and sometimes with our willing buy-in. Despite this, the film itself, created entirely on a MacBook using free software like Blender, feels like a small rebellion against the all-consuming void of the internet.

Today, much of the content online is made by and for bots, designed solely for profit. As AI capabilities continue to evolve, the internet will likely become even stranger. Yet, there will always be artists like Glander who remind us that technology and the internet can still be tools for creativity and weirdness, as they were once promised to be.