Decorado

Imagine The Truman Show, an introspective Scandinavian character drama, and a deranged take on a Disney cartoon rolled into one, and you may get an idea of what Alberto Vázquez’s outlandish animated odyssey is like. Unemployed and trapped in a failing marriage, Arnold the mouse has long suspected that the world – dominated by a massive corporation that demands nothing less than total obedience – isn’t as real as it seems. When a trip to the forest turns deadly, Arnold becomes fully convinced that his paranoia is real after all. This demented and delightfully grotesque existential drama may take place in an animated world, but its themes of free will, social conformity and the importance of human connection are especially relevant in these troubling times.

Annecy International Animation Film Festival: Paul Grimault Award