Loneliness and Digital Rituals in We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

The film centers on Casey, a teenager who documents her participation in an internet-based creepypasta game. Participants are expected to report physical transformations—turning into plastic or rearranging their anatomy—after performing a series of increasingly disturbing tasks. While the premise mimics familiar genre tropes, the execution is stripped of typical horror artifice. The terror here is not found in jump scares, but in the voyeuristic intimacy of a solitary girl seeking validation through a screen.

Casey’s existence is defined by a lack of physical connection. Her father remains an off-screen, shouting presence, and she appears to have no peers in her daily life. This vacuum draws the attention of JLB, a middle-aged man who inserts himself into her narrative under the guise of concern. His involvement introduces an uncomfortable, predatory tension that lingers throughout the runtime. Unlike many coming-of-age stories that focus on sexual discovery, this film remains strictly concerned with the desperate search for belonging.

Schoenbrun avoids the surreal maximalism of their later works, opting instead for a grounded, quiet dread. By leaning into ambiguity, the film forces the viewer to confront the fragility of a young person navigating the digital abyss. It is currently available to stream on the Criterion Channel, Kanopy, and Hoopla.