Tycoon Review: Charlotte Zhang’s Stunning Dystopian Debut

Charlotte Zhang’s debut feature, Tycoon, presents a dystopian vision of Los Angeles that avoids the tropes of far-flung science fiction, instead locating the roots of its imagined future in contemporary realities. Set around the 2028 Summer Olympics, the film depicts a city consumed by paranoia and conspiracy, where the social fabric is strained by state-sanctioned racial violence.

The world-building in Tycoon centers on a societal collapse triggered by a livestock disease, which has resulted in a total ban on meat production. In this vacuum, the primary source of protein distribution has shifted to powdered insects, a resource controlled entirely by a megacorporation known as Ootheca Inc.

The film highlights a biting irony within this corporate monopoly: while Ootheca Inc. Maintains a stranglehold on the food supply, several local neighborhoods have been overtaken by cockroach infestations. This juxtaposition underscores the insidious nature of the corporation’s greed, as the very pests invading the homes of the citizenry serve as the foundation for the company’s profit.

Despite the high-concept premise, the narrative remains anchored in a human story of survival. The plot follows two Latino men, Lito, played by Miguel Padilla-Juarez, and Jay, played by Jon Lawrence Reyes. Both characters are portrayed as hustlers who navigate the widespread chaos of the city to survive.

Lito and Jay engage in a series of petty crimes to game the system, including a daring break-in to an Ootheca trailer to steal boxes of the highly valued protein powder. Their journey serves as the emotional core of the film, transforming a dystopian setting into a study of resilience, and desperation.

Visually, Zhang employs a fragmented and experimental approach to storytelling. The film utilizes a variety of formats to render the escapades of its protagonists, blending handheld DV camera footage, Super 8 film, and Xerox art. This DIY aesthetic mirrors the disorder of the environment the characters inhabit.

However, the film distinguishes itself from other works that use a similar lo-fi style through Zhang’s precise technical execution. The director demonstrates a keen attention to composition and blocking, ensuring that the experimental textures do not overwhelm the narrative clarity.

This balance is most evident in the film’s atmospheric sequences. Scenes featuring house parties, high-rev street drifting, and rides through the city against the setting sun are woven together to create what has been described as a stunning city symphony. Through this approach, a distinct visual rhythm emerges from the surrounding disorder, capturing the beauty and the grotesqueries of the city.

By grounding its speculative elements in the here and now, Tycoon functions as both a cautionary tale and a character study, using its dystopian framework to examine the intersections of corporate power and racial violence in a near-future Los Angeles.