The need for a connection and sense of belonging is something we all go through, whether its as children, adults, or we are continuously searching for that feeling.
Jérémy Clapin’s award winning animation sets itself apart, in some ways literally, from the crowd through of all things, a severed hand’s journey back to the body it came from.
It’s heart‐breaking, comedic at times and surprisingly gets into the depths of that lost feeling, forever in suspension and never being able to find connection.
A severed hand awakens and searches for the body it was a part of. Meanwhile somewhere in the city, lonely pizza delivery boy Naoufel, still grieving the death of his parents and the life he had years before, by chance makes a connection with a customer. Holding on to this interaction he looks for her, making a new start, a hope for something new.
A story about a severed hand coming back to life would be a horror aficionado’s dream come true, but this is the furthest away you can get from that genre.
It is animated beautifully, capturing the grime and disgust of the streets, the pain and grief of losing loved ones, and the feeling of hope that there is something more to life out there in the great wide world.
As half of the film is seen from the hand’s point of view (weird as that sounds) we get to see the perilous journey taken, the desperate need to be part of the body again. It slowly becomes about feeling lighter, freer and literally letting go of the past.
Naoufel represents all us lonely workers, living in a big city, holding onto to the smallest interaction. In flashbacks we see his perfect life with his loving parents and how he’s never really gotten over this great loss.
Deciding to leave his dull existence and venture into the unknown, just like the severed hand, gives him a breath of life and excitement that he so desperately needed.
But beyond a tentative romance, new skills learnt, there is something missing, which is beautifully executed by the end of the film. The simplest of motions meaning far more than what they are on the surface.
This amazingly animated journey of channelling grief, loneliness and hope, connects on several levels depending on what part of self‐discovery you going through.
But the image of a severed hand showing emotion from fear to sadness is so brilliantly conducted, it will stay with you, long after the credits roll.
★★★☆☆
I Lost My Body will be released in the UK on Netflix on 29th November.For all things pop culture and the latest news, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.
