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At the Los Angeles premiere of the filmmaker Harmony Korine\u2019s<\/a> \u201cAggro Dr1ft,\u201d which was held on Wednesday night at Hollywood\u2019s Crazy Girls strip club, scantily clad dancers shimmied on three small stages.<\/p>\n Mr. Korine, a 51-year-old experimental artist known for directing 2012\u2019s \u201cSpring Breakers<\/a>,\u201d has been seeking to understand and capitalize on youth culture since he wrote the 1995 cult classic \u201cKids<\/a>\u201d when he was only 19. That\u2019s why the enigmatic filmmaker, actor, photographer, painter, D.J. and author is aiming to disrupt the traditional cinematic release format by offering immersive experiences for a group of film, fashion, skate and fine art ventures, which he launched with \u201cAggro Dr1ft<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n At the film\u2019s first public screening, which drew about 400 people, a smoke machine blew softly overhead, creating fog reminiscent of the pouring rain outside. A merchandise station for EDGLRD<\/a>, Korine\u2019s multimedia design collective \u2014 and his D.J. moniker \u2014 was set up in the back corner offering branded T-shirts, hoodies, skateboards and more. The screening was followed directly by D.J. sets from the music producer AraabMuzik and from Mr. Korine himself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Showing a movie at a strip club is an unusual choice, which is typical of EDGLRD\u2019s rollout strategy, according to the company\u2019s head of film strategy and development, Eric Kohn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re leaning into with this company is a more expansive approach to creativity,\u201d Mr. Kohn said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to engineer a new way to get this kind of work out in the world that isn\u2019t beholden to the limited economics of the film market. You\u2019ve never seen a movie in a strip club before but you\u2019ve also never seen a movie like this before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAggro Dr1ft\u201d certainly lends itself to the strip club aesthetic, boasting the staples of a movie geared toward men: There\u2019s cash, cars and hypersexual women. Men in ski masks brandish large machine guns. Strippers are bound inside large bird cages. A street brawl devolves into a knife fight. And there\u2019s a cameo by Mr. Korine\u2019s \u201cCircus Maximus\u201d collaborator, Travis Scott<\/a>, who stands around as the camera draws in close.<\/p>\n Although the movie comes in at a tight 80 minutes, it feels akin to an assault on the senses because of its visuals \u2014 which were shot entirely with an infrared lens \u2014 and its score by AraabMuzik. It is the kind of thing that might play in the background of a frat party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The audience was primarily male, comprised of many Seth Rogen lookalikes clad in skate brands and baseball caps. Many of them were mustachioed.<\/p>\n The gender divide was never more obvious than in the film\u2019s attempts at humor.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of men that were laughing when the guy got his head cut off,\u201d Mariah Kock, a stylist, said of a scene in which the protagonist beheads an opponent with a small hand-held blade. \u201cI thought that it was a very serious moment and all these guys were maniacally laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, she described the film as \u201camazing.\u201d \u201cI had an out-of-body experience the whole time I was watching it,\u201d she said. \u201cI was honed in. I feel like I\u2019m not even here in this room. I feel so weird in such a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was a really sick commentary on warmth and manhood,\u201d Luisa Coats, an artist and friend of Ms. Kock, said enthusiastically. \u201cWe were saying we all feel high. I think I was surprised at the crowd. I was expecting something a bit different I think but this movie was so sensual, it made me want to be reincarnated as a man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The film debuted last fall at the Venice Film Festival and was critically panned. But critics aren\u2019t the target audience for Mr. Korine\u2019s projects, according to Mr. Kohn, who was formerly the executive editor at Indiewire.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first day at EDGLRD I was flying to the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere of this movie,\u201d he said. \u201cIncredible environment, but it\u2019s a highbrow cinephile crowd. So to see it there and then to see it with this environment shows you there really is a potential to reach everyone with the right kind of work.\u201d<\/p>\n Later this week, the film will host additional screenings at the American Cinematheque, a cultural organization that offers curated film programming.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI was stoked ever since I heard about this at the film festival circuit to obviously mixed reviews, as all his films are,\u201d said Jeremy Long, a writer and TV producer who learned of the event through a Discord group for film. \u201cI thought it was trippy, I thought it was nuts. There\u2019s no movie like this movie that exists. There probably never will be again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Long said he is not a \u201cstrip club goer,\u201d but that certain scenes of the movie transported him directly into the action.<\/p>\n \u201cIt created a really surreal experience on top of an already surreal movie,\u201d he said. \u201cI like that not one movie of Harmony\u2019s is the same as the movie he did before. He\u2019s always pushing the envelope of not just what cinema is but what storytelling is within a film.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n