The Lord of the Edge
GQ US|September 2023
As Hollywood wages war over the future of the movies, Harmony Korine and a gang of video game designers and AI artists are holed up in a house near Mar-a-Lago building it.
ZACH BARON
The Lord of the Edge

JUST UP THE BEACH from Mar-a-Lago, Harmony Korine is out on the sand, wearing a horned demon mask, staring at the ocean. Palm Beach in June is humid and a little dazed. I would tell you how one of the most transgressive and perpetually youthful filmmakers of his generation looks now, at 50, but again: horned demon mask. "This is EDGLRD," he says, pointing at it. Pronounced "edgelord." Slightly muffled, vocal-wise, from the mask, but you get the idea. Then he takes it off-face still mischievous, if also a little professorial these days; eyes as gleeful as ever and asks if I want to go inside and see the rest of it for myself.

There are many ways to describe EDGLRD, it turns out, none of them simple. This is the first time Korine or his partners have talked about it publicly. It's a design collective; it's a creative factory; it makes movies that are not really movies, movies that are closer to video games, that sometimes are actually playable as video games. It also makes video-game video games. EDGLRD is using AI in exactly the way that people in Hollywood speculate Al might somehow be used, to help make the things it makes, except it's already doing so. Plus, EDGLRD is prototyping clothes you can wear and clothes that your digital avatar can wear while you play EDGLRD games (that are also sometimes movies). Posters for various characters Korine and his team call Florida Lords-a girl with a hamburger face named Patty Melt; Trinika Young, a Caribbean tech psychic-line the walls of the beach house they're using for an office.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM GQ USView all
SHABOOZEY THE BIG SHA BANG
GQ US

SHABOOZEY THE BIG SHA BANG

Shaboozey spent months at the tippy-top of the charts with a hit song about dealing with hard times the easy way: by hitting the bar. He sang on a couple songs with Beyoncé too. So we asked the one and only SHANIA TWAIN to help country's biggest new star make sense of his explosive year.

time-read
10 mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
HANNAH EINBINDER BORN STANDING UP
GQ US

HANNAH EINBINDER BORN STANDING UP

With her star turn on Hacks, the comic turned actor has established herself as one of Hollywood's most exciting young talents-much to her own surprise.

time-read
10 mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
Katt Williams The Man Who Opened The Portal
GQ US

Katt Williams The Man Who Opened The Portal

In January, the comic delivered an instantly iconic podcast interview that threw pop culture into crisis-and seemed to predict all manner of messy celebrity gossip to come. At home on his farm, Williams explains why he said what he said— and why he'd do it again, and again, and again....

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
JOHN DAVID & MALCOLM WASHINGTON A NEW HOLLYWOOD DYNASTY
GQ US

JOHN DAVID & MALCOLM WASHINGTON A NEW HOLLYWOOD DYNASTY

The Washington brothers built their careers apart—until an irresistible project drew them together. In The Piano Lesson, they tackle a father's thorny legacy.

time-read
10 mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
FUTURE & METRO BOOMIN'S HISTORIC Hit STREAK
GQ US

FUTURE & METRO BOOMIN'S HISTORIC Hit STREAK

What happens when the best rapper alive reunites with the hottest producer of the moment? You get a back-to-back-to-back run unlike any since the Beatles.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
PHARRELL WILLIAMS Designer of the Year
GQ US

PHARRELL WILLIAMS Designer of the Year

Riding along from Paris to Hollywood to New York with the Louis Vuitton *men's creative director, whose prolific and often prophetic contributions to fashion, film, and music have once again thrust him to the center of the pop culture Venn diagram.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
JOHN MULANEY. KID GORGEOUS GROWS UP
GQ US

JOHN MULANEY. KID GORGEOUS GROWS UP

After immortalizing the whirlwind of the past four yearsrelapse, intervention, recovery-in his awardwinning standup special, John Mulaney has emerged as one of the most popular comedians on earth. For his next trick, he's embracing his surprising new role as a suburban dad.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
DWAYNE JOHNSON THE WORLD'S BIGGEST Actor
GQ US

DWAYNE JOHNSON THE WORLD'S BIGGEST Actor

It's hard for Dwayne Johnson to hide. Wherever he goes, there he is― as conspicuous out in the world as he is on the silver screen. But after two decades of playing a version of himself in huge movies, suddenly Dwayne Johnson is ready to do something entirely new: vanish.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports
GQ US

How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports

Caitlin Clark! A'ja Wilson! Angel Reese! This year, women's hoops emerged as a dominant popcultural force. But the road to sports-league supremacy has been long and winding. This is the inside story of how the W finally broke through.

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 2024/January 2025
A Companion for Your Wrist
GQ US

A Companion for Your Wrist

Audemars Piguet's new release with artist Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS, brings high-art hype to the world of pop-watch collabs.

time-read
3 mins  |
December 2024/January 2025