Aliens and opiates collide in Liquid Sky, a science fiction jaunt through New York City’s New Wave scene. Bisexual fashion model Margaret (Anne Carlisle) dreams of stardom but faces abuse from her drug-addicted rival Jimmy (also played by Carlisle). Meanwhile, tiny, invisible aliens seeking heroin land on the roof of Margaret and her drug-dealing/performance artist girlfriend’s squalid home. But, instead of pursuing heroin for their sustenance, the aliens develop an appetite from the neurotransmitters released during human orgasm. Margaret’s sexual escapades lead to a string of deaths while a German scientist attempts to capture and research the aliens. Liquid Sky spent decades on the midnight movie circuit before becoming a cult classic for its avant-garde cinematography and soundtrack, surreal plot, and gender play.
This screening will be preceded by a lecture from Dr. Roberto Cofresí-Bonilla, Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Dr. Cofresí-Bonilla's lecture, Reward pursuit: "wanting" vs "liking", will discuss how the pursuit of rewards like tasty food, intoxicating drugs, and orgasm, depends on "wanting" (motivation) and "liking" (pleasure) and how these two psychological functions depend on different systems in the brain.
Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.