I Lost My Body

In between strikes, the French have managed to make a film and it really, truly is very good indeed. Crazy, I mean, how they came up with the concept I’ll never know, but it is very good.

I Lost My Body tells the story of Naoufel, voiced by Hakim Faris (“Sous X”, “To Silicon Valley (Short)”), or rather, it tells the story of his hand, and Naoufel.

You see, we join proceedings with Naoufel lying on the floor, his hand no longer attached to his body. And so, our journey begins, and what a journey.

We follow Naoufel’s hand as it attempts to be reunited with the rest of him. It’s an adventure story, with flashbacks, hip-hop and the most delightful animation.

The hand remembers sections of the past, learning to play the piano, falling in love, fighting, working. We see it all as it makes the journey to the workshop where they were last together.

We also see the journey the hand makes, fighting off rats on the underground, being picked up by a dog, crossing a freeway, it’s all delightfully inventive.

The movie is funny at times too, but it is also very moving, sad if I’m being honest. The film is adapted from a novel by Guillaume Laurant who also co-wrote the screenplay alongside director Jeremy Clapin (“Skhizein (Short)”, “Hundred Waters: Innocent (Short)”).

It’s a truly mesmerizing film, I didn’t want to look away for even a second for fear of missing something. Everything from the animation style, the voices, the music, the two storylines interwoven together, it all works and fits together like, well, like a glove.

I Lost My Body is available to watch now on Netflix and you really should check it out.