Through train rails and tin cans, snowflakes and frozen lakes, we follow a severed hand on its quest to find its owner. “I Lost My Body” (J’ai perdu mon corps) is without doubt one of the most original movies this year. From Xilam and Netflix, co-written by director Jérémy Clapin and the scriptwriter of Amélie, Guillaume Laurant, ILMB is a mix and match of an exhilarating sensory thrill and an infatuated love story.

Through flashbacks, we observe as pre-hand-severed-Naoufel, an ambitious son of immigrants, becomes orphaned and is to live with a distant uncle and obnoxious cousin, walks a distraught and unfulfilling path of a pizza delivery guy, rather than the pianist and astronaut he dreamt of. Always being late on deliveries, he one day ends up in a telecom conversation with Gabrielle, a dissatisfied customer, who he then goes on to become quite obsessed with. Following her to her job and through the chaotic Parisian metro, and eventually to her uncle who he, in hopes of seeing Gabrielle, ends up working for. And so that is the one half of this movie, a slow cliché of a romcom that though mildly confronts the unhealthy and creepy relationship, in large part still romanticises it.

It is in the present, that this film truly shines. Watching Naoufel’s hand on the loose as it goes through Paris’ streets and people we not only are presented with absurdly beautiful animation despite its macabre nature, but a sensory adventure like no other. As the hand has an altercation with frenzied rodents, you cringe as their teeth graze your skin, and when it gets caught under ice, you feel yourself going purple and dumb.

Though a large part of the plot of this movie, may seem like something you have seen many times already, there is no denying that the full and combined experience is invigorating. With stunning scenery and peculiar twists, I Lost My Body is a tale of letting go of the past and defying your fate.

Director: Jérémy Clapin
Writers: Jérémy Clapin (screenplay), Guillaume Laurant (screenplay)
Stars: Hakim Faris, Victoire Du Bois, Patrick d’Assumçao
Malin Evita Ditlefsen
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