Another World Review – A fantasy tale of the afterlife with the dark fury of Greek tragedy | film

TThe wonder of Studio Ghibli meets the gruesomeness of Game of Thrones and the dark fury of Greek tragedy in this stunning and deeply strange animation from young Hong Kong director Tommy Kai Chung Ng. His film is a fantastic fairy tale full of disturbing moments of violence that make it completely unsuitable for children. In one scene, a medieval feudal lord burns peasants alive in a granary; In another story, a teenage princess flogs to death a general she blames for her father’s death.

It opens in a place called “Another World”, which is a stop in the afterlife for humans who have died, on their way to reincarnation. In this underworld, we meet a band of fantastic, pint-sized spirits called the Spirit Guardians, whose mission is to guide the dead to the next life. The dead leave their unresolved resentments behind in another world; They become knots tied with beautiful red silk threads. The place is run by the goddess Mira, who despairs at her failure after thousands of years of untying the knots to eradicate human hatred and cruelty. It’s a beautifully animated world in a kaleidoscope of trippy pastels, with some stunning visuals.

One of the soul keepers, Godot, is curious about human emotions, and the film tells the stories of the dead people he helps. There is Yuri, a young girl who spends her time in another world searching for her missing brother; Princess Goran is angry with grief after her father’s death. Young Godou dedicates himself to preventing the evil seed planted in Princess Goran’s heart from growing, leading to devastating consequences on Earth and beyond.

The film is about how people destroy everything by destroying themselves, but it is also about the beauty of the human heart. It’s such an inventive and imaginative film that I wanted to like it more, but in the end I found it somewhat psychologically unengaging, perhaps due to the non-stop swirl of ideas and stories.