I Lost My Body

I found time for a second film to review yesterday. It's on Netflix now, so it was easy. It's a French animated film called I Lost My Body, based on the novel Happy Hand by Guillaume Laurent, who also wrote the screenplay with director Jeremy Clapin.

So who lost their body? Rosalie the Hand. One day, she wakes in a lab, lost and detached. After a very messy escape attempt, she travels through Paris to find her former owner.

Meanwhile, we're introduced in flashbacks to her former owner, Naoufel (Dev Patel), an aimless orphan. After his latest, and likely final, tardy pizza delivery, Naoufel interacts with the annoyed customer by intercom. That voice belongs to Gabrielle (Alia Shawkat) the librarian. He gets a job with Gabrielle's carpenter uncle Gigi (George Wendt). His attempts to get closer to her are awkward at best.

It runs at a sparse 81 minutes, so I'll try to keep it short too. Rosalie's part of the plot barely has any dialogue. But it's got plenty of creepy moments. A few highlights include the lab escape and her encounter with a pigeon. The film's 3D/2D animation style makes these moments artistically creepy. We soon get to see what led to her separation with Naoufel. You'll be uneasy before you see it happen. You will cringe at these perils and empathize with that poor, lost hand.

Naoufel's part seems like a different movie. One might not even get his connection with Rosalie at first. Even if the film starts with the aftermath of their fateful accident. But they will get it, eventually. We get to see how ended up an aimless man. It's easy to understand his desire to get out of his funk. It's nice to see him find a friend in Gabrielle. We understand some of his awkwardness in his own flashbacks. But we don't empathize with his egregious offenses. Still, the ending gives him a bit of hope.

I Lost My Body is a surprisingly endearing story about a lost hand. Never thought I had to write that sentence. But I did. Rosalie makes for the most memorable walking hand since Thing from The Addams Family. You might not want to turn your eyes away even if you want to. It's not for the feint of heart; but for those that are, it's still on Netflix and some theaters now.