🍿90: I Lost My Body
This week: Three trailers and Hollywood's smallest sellout 🖐🏼
“Everyone alright? No missing limbs that weren't already missing before you came?”
~ The Addams Family, 2019
Butterfingers…
There’s been a bit of a change to the schedule this week, because someone dropped the ball. While we had planned a feature review of Baltimore, starring Imogen Poots, it’s not showing anywhere until 12th April — despite its release being reported as 22nd March by multiple sources.
Sadly, despite our best efforts, it’s not the first time inaccurate and/or inconsistent information about UK releases has affected SP.
However, rather than leave you empty-handed, we thought we’d write a review for the little-known French animation I Lost My Body, instead. Although this film came out in 2019, we feel that it’s obscure enough to warrant this week’s feature review — and there haven’t been any new releases in the last two weeks that have quite fit SP’s agenda.
Reviewing an ‘old’ release is a first for SP, and, as such, we’d like to know your thoughts on it. Do you mind reading reviews for old (but obscure and niche films)? Or are you solely interested in reading about new releases?
Let us know in the comments!
Now for the headlines:
Warner Bros. has announced a fifth instalment of The Matrix, with Drew Goddard set to write and direct, and Lana Wachowski to produce. Read more.
Austin Butler is set to star in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming crime thriller Caught Stealing. Read more.
Olivia Coleman and Benedict Cumberbatch will be starring in a remake of War of the Roses. Read more.
And finally, the horror-themed parodies of classic Disney films (aptly dubbed the “Poohniverse”) continue with Bambi: The Reckoning. Read more.
Upcoming Releases
Kinds of Kindness
UK: 28 June // USA: 21 June
Following the success of Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’s next film has been rushed to release, and stars much of the same cast. In it, three stories revolve around a man who tries to take control of his own life, a policeman whose wife seems like a different person, and a woman who searches for someone with a special ability.
Cuckoo
UK: 9 August // USA: 9 August
17-year-old Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) reluctantly leaves her American home to live with her father at a resort in the German Alps. Plagued by strange noises and bloody visions, she soon discovers a shocking secret that concerns her own family.
The Dead Don’t Hurt
UK: 31 May // USA: 31 May
Written, directed, and starring Viggo Mortensen, the film unfolds as Vivienne Le Coudy’s (Vicky Krieps) world turns upside down when the man she loves, Holger Olsen (Mortensen), leaves to fight in the Civil War. Left to fend for herself in a place controlled by a corrupt mayor and his unscrupulous business partner, Vivienne faces her own battles of survival and resilience.
Fact of the week
When it comes to actors “selling out”, after seeing Robert DeNiro act as a bagel-obsessed mobster for Warburtons and Harvey Keitel reprise his role as Winston Wolf to sell car insurance, I didn’t think a commercial cameo would ever surprise me again.
That was until I started looking around for this week’s fact when I found out that Hollywood’s honoured hand, Thing (The Addam’s Family), had sold out for none other than British sofa company DFS.
Review: I Lost My Body
Star rating:
4.5 (out of 5)
Where to watch:
USA: Netflix
UK: Netflix
Runtime:
1hr 21m
Director:
Jérémy Clapin
Blurb:
A severed hand embarks on a perilous journey across Paris with one crucial goal: to get back to its body, while reminiscing on its life with the young man it was once attached to.
The review (NO spoilers):
Directed by Jérémy Clapin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Guillaume Laurant (Amélie), I Lost My Body tells the story of Naoufel (Hakim Faris), who finds himself relentlessly downtrodden by the whims of fate.
With its fantastical story, stunning animation and emotive score, this film walks a tightrope between hope and hopelessness with a theme that ebbs between joy and defeat. While there is sadness, somehow this is closer to being a heartfelt feel-good film than a tragedy — but it’s a fine line.
You’ve got to hand it to Clapin, because similar to the Amazon Original series Undone and the film Flee, I Lost My Body is pushing the boundaries of what animation can be. Like all the best animated films, it’s made in a way that helps you forget it’s animated. Thanks to films like this we seem to be coming to the end of people turning their noses up at the idea of watching a “cartoon”.
The story itself twists and turns in ways that are wholly unexpected. From the ups and downs of Naoufel’s romantic quest to every one of the dangers faced by the severed hand traversing Paris, there are equal measures of tranquility and tension beneath the surface of every scene. As much as you may hope for everything to go right, there’s a feeling it will all go wrong — and you never quite know what’s coming next.
It’s a tumultuous ride, but I Lost My Body is a film that will stay with you. The fact that was merely nominated at the 2020 Oscars for Best Animated Feature Film (losing to Toy Story 4) isn’t just a snub — it’s a travesty.
Scroll down to see what’s in the next issue.
If you liked I Lost My Body…
Flee
2021 | UK: Prime Video (£3.49) // USA: Prime Video ($3.99)
Flee was the feature review for SP#31 back in February 2022. It’s a remarkably beautiful film — a documentary in fact — about survival, tragedy and love. I don’t want to say too much, just watch it, and prepare yourself. Never has an animated film had such a profound effect on me.
In the next issue:
The Teachers’ Lounge
UK: 12 April // USA: 12 April | Watch the Trailer
