Extraordinary British stop motion adult animated feature written by Irish playwright Enda Walsh. Three stories detail the lives of different characters in different times living in the same house. And the house has a pronounced psychological effect on those in residence.
The first story concerns a poor human family who come to live in the house as part of a Faustian deal with the wealthy builder. Fans of Dickens will recognize the familiar scenario that begins to veer into the realm of horror and the surreal.
Story two moves more into the modern age: a young rat with funds has bought the house with hopes to flip during the real estate bubble of the 1990's. A wicked satire of those certain types from that era: kinda douchey, overly obsessed with status and having the right objects, the right food, the right music, inviting the right people to the viewing. Unfortunately, things take a Burroughsesque turn for the lad.
In the final story, seemingly in the climate-changed future, a high-strung young cat is obsessed with saving the house. She was trying the finance the renovation with the rent of tenants but all the paying ones have left. The remaining two: one, a hipster pays with fish and the other, an old female hippie pays with crystals. Here the satire comments on certain characters in our society: the non-working hipster, the tightly wound could-very-well-go-Karen-on-your ass female, and the new age/GOOP hippy dippy namaste type. Her absent lover, with his white rasta beard comes for a visit and this asshole...well, he frequently begins to emit Tibetian throat songs. Just shoot me now.
The animation is fabulous to the point where you sometime thing it's photography. The visuals, concept and writing are quite original and inventive yet pointing back with enough references that most viewers will get it. A great example of the industry (Netflix) providing the money and the forum for creativity to flourish-something HBO began in the '90's that resulted in the "Golden Age of TV." Anyone who has waded though the Netflix swamp has experienced this: ya gotta pan a lot of sand before you find the nuggets. I think we've struck gold with this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment