YOU NEED THIS // Screening and Panel Discussion at IFC Center - Incite at Columbia University

The new documentary from filmmakers Ryan Andrej Lough & Adam McKay, unpacking the hidden forces of consumer-capitalism shaping our lives.

Join us for a free screening of You Need This—an immersive saga about the individual and societal effects of consumerism and hyper-capitalism, examining propaganda, the notion of Self, and ideas to prevent the prevailing economic system from hurtling the world into a sixth extinction.

Spots are limited, so register today. Doors at 6:45 PM with the screening starting promptly at 7:00 PM. A panel with the filmmakers and special guests to follow.

About You Need This

From director Ryan Andrej Lough and Oscar®-winning filmmaker Adam McKay, comes a thought-provoking documentary that unpacks hidden forces shaping our lives. You Need This takes us through a looking glass into the grip of consumer capitalism and techno-feudalism—how it dictates our values, our identities, and even our dreams.

More than an economic system, consumer capitalism has evolved into an insidious belief structure that distorts how we measure success, erodes our connections with one another, and pushes our planet toward collapse. Through conversations with economists, dream researchers, and social psychologists, the film unravels how the relentless pursuit of productivity and material wealth robs us of time—time to reflect, to connect, to dream, to simply be.

Featuring insights from Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Juliet Schor, and Reverend Billy, You Need This challenges us to rethink our role in an unsustainable system and imagine a different way of existing before it’s too late.

This screening is presented by Incite Institute at Columbia University and Yellow Dot Studios.

At Incite Institute, the worlds of scholarship, community engagement, the arts, and other specialties unite to ask ambitious questions and understand and engage the social world in surprising new ways. Incite Institute is housed at Columbia University’s School of Arts & Sciences.

Yellow Dot Studios is a non-profit media studio founded by Adam McKay, challenging big oil disinformation, corporate greed, and climate inaction.