★★★★★★★★☆☆

Who would’ve guessed that my favorite animated film of last year would end up being a Netflix original? Definitely not me.

I Lost My Body feels like a dream. It has all of the right quantifications to be a dream. It’s surreal, atmospheric, drifting and yet ultimately rewarding. The animation is absolutely stunning because of the artists behind this film painting a gorgeous visual palette of colors, textures and visual motifs. There are black and white flashbacks, dreamlike sequences of color and some really creative rarely seen camera angles.

The story is a darker one than many, a modern fairy tale about a young man named Naoufel lost in his own mind, drifting through life simply looking for some semblance of purpose in his life. He seems to think he’s found this purpose in an elusive and beautiful young woman, Gabrielle. Woven into this story are two other tales, the happenings of Naoufel’s childhood and the story of a severed hand making it’s way across the city to some unrevealed ends.

I’m not going to pretend to understand all of the themes and idea at play in this film, but at first glance it’s a story of loss and growth. It’s a tale of grasping at a fly and never catching it. It’s a story of one caught in that dull part of life, in a hopeless and monotone place I find all too familiar.

I Lost My Body is quite literally impossible to describe. It’s entirely unlike any film I’ve ever seen for countless more reasons than many others. As much as I loved the fresh change of children’s storytelling that Klaus had to offer, and as much as I loved Toy Story 4 (the most I’ve ever cried over a film), I would still choose I Lost My Body as the best animated film of last year. Why? I couldn’t quite tell you.

Maybe I relate to the layered and deep emotional themes at play or maybe I’m just so in awe of the incredibly animation. Either way, you should go home, boot up Netflix and check this one out as soon as possible. I’m not promising you’ll love it, but if you have a certain appreciation for the surreally beautiful you’ll find lots of value in this film.

★★★★★★★★★★

Going in I knew next to nothing about Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.

I had seen this film garnering high praise almost unanimously as well as topping several best of 2019 lists from very trusted critics. Disappointed that I would probably not be able to see the film in theaters, I purposefully kept my distance from trailers or in depth reviews hoping that one day I’d catch this on VUDU.

Next thing I know I’m in a theater seat, and the lights are dimming.

What a ride this was in the theater. Never have I been so happy I avoided gaining any knowledge of a film. Parasite defies genre. This film is full of emotionally relatable characters with realistic and believable motives finding their way through a plot full of twists flying at a breakneck speed. The film’s deconstruction/analysis of class struggles and realistic poverty is always present and yet somehow never forced or in your face. At times the film is loud, and at other’s it’s quiet. There are moments of great tension and emotional force, and others of the more relaxed or serene type. 

It’s very rare that I truly have no idea what will happen next in a film, but that was the case here for almost 3/4 of the runtime. Down to the last minutes of the film I was on the edge of my seat, mind racing, heart pounding and palms sweaty. With every twist the characters encounter, it seems the film takes a new form. First it’s a quiet drama, which turns into a heist film, which develops in a thriller, which goes back to drama and so on and so forth. All of the actors are perfect in their respective roles, and all of the characters are so well written. No character in this film is single note. No character serves only one purpose. No character is villainized. The playing field is even. The screenplay plays with this concept constantly, forcing you to go back and forth, picking sides and re-choosing sides.

I truly think this film’s greatest strength is how level the playing field is. No character is evil, and no character is even shown in a bad light. Everyone is shown in their respective situations and allowed to act and react in natural, believable and yet still entirely engrossing ways. Simply put: Parasite is a masterpiece. It is an absolute powerhouse of film and bends genres in ways never before seen.

Go check this out without knowing anything. Trust me, you won’t regret it.