At this last year’s Academy Awards, Guillermo del Toro
stepped up to the podium upon winning the Oscar for Best Animated Film and
talked about how animated features are ‘not a genre, but still cinema.’ While
I’m sure readers on this site will more than likely know this already, it’s a
great reminder that animation is just a choice in creating cinema and not
inherently separate.
This year, Panic Fest 2023 showcased a rather unique
“animated” horror feature that struck a unique chord with me. Agatha became
an unnerving cinematic venture that burrowed under my skin with its distinctive
visuals that blend animation and live action in one of the most fascinating
ways. It’s the kind of experimental style in film that warrants a viewing, even
if it makes some choices that may alienate some viewers.
My screening included a brief introduction by one of the
directors, Kelly Bigelow Becerra and she notes that the film was a combination
of animation and live action where the footage of the actors was painted –
frame by frame – over with the animation. It’s an interesting expectation
that’s set prior to the film. It’s almost necessary because being thrown into
the film might be a bit overwhelming for those not expecting what it is
bringing to the table.
Like Mad God or The Spine of Night, Agatha
uses its animated elements to create a sense of fantastical and nightmarish
tonality to separate the film from its sense of reality. And, boy howdy, does Agatha
like to play in that space. The film features almost no dialogue and the manner
of its animation, a swirling oil painting look of Lovecraftian intent, creates
its own sense of movement and disjointedness that adds to the story.
A story that, might I add, is so loosely constructed and
mostly told visually, that it dabbles in some weighty themes about loss,
resurrection, sickness, and health that it will definitely leave a shadow on
its viewer. Its odd mixture of urban wasteland and dead forest elements as a
setting gives the entire thing an “urban folk horror” aspect that creeps into
modern fable territory, particularly as it reveals who Agatha is as a character
and the role that our main protagonist, a sick older gentleman struggling with
finding a way forward in life with a negative health prognosis, plays into it
all.
Some viewers may struggle with the film’s inherent lack of
“plot”, but it’s a blessing in this case as the plot never gets in the way of
the story. Not to mention that the film works blissfully at a 60-minute run
time, never overstaying its welcome with an audience. It was probably a maneuver
to limit its run time to save on the cost of its visual style, but it works
impressively well in keeping its flow moving.
Although I can already see some viewers claiming that Agatha
works more as a cinematic curiosity than anything else, it’s a film that really
stuck with me as I worked my way through the Panic Fest 2023 lineup. It’s such
a boldly envisioned and executed slice of cinema that it’s really hard for me
not to give it all the credit it deserves. It’s visually a stunner, it works in
an unnerving manner, and it hits some hard-hitting horror moments
impressively.
Agatha carries a spell and while it may not work for
everyone, it certainly cast its power on me.
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