There’s no way a film like this would make the big screen….which is why streaming services exist. I Lost My Body is a Tim Burton fairy tale filtered though French animation. It’s weird; it’s surreal; it’s poignant. I think the word I’m looking for is…it’s good!
A fridge opens, and what happens? The most unlikely thing pops out: a self-aware severed hand. That’s right, a hand that has a memory of its past life. It’s owner was Naoufel (Hakim Faris), a drifter stuck in a perpetual life rut, perenially late for his pizza deliveries. One eventful night has him cross paths with the voice of Gabrielle (Victoire du Bois) in a high rise apartment speaker. Due to a rain storm, the two chat for a long time, forging some sort of connection that apparently leads to Naoufel losing his hand? But…how? And why? And where is the hand going?
The best part of I Lost My Body is the wordless journey of Naoufel’s hand to reminisce and find its former master. What a harrowing expedition the five fingers go through! Sewer rats, umbrellas, and ravioli cans take on new meaning for the hand, as it goes from the depths of the Metro to the heights of some of Paris’s biggest buildings. Even though there’s no facial expressions, director Jeremy Clapin helps give the hand a personality, eventually turning it into any other hero. That’s right, the hand is Frodo/Harry Potter/Homer. The movie walks the creepy/beautiful line well, never crossing too far over into one or the other, giving I Lost My Body a strange, fresh energy propelling the story forward. No spoilers here, but the direction is so good that the viewer might get a tear or 2 with the emotional climax of this movie for Naoufel’s hand, which…is just crazy to write, but totally true!
The flashbacks are not as successful as the story of Naoufel’s hand, but they provide context and help ground the surreal elements of the story. Naoufel is decently fleshed out as our main character, but there’s nothing as fresh happening to the rest of Naoufel’s body as is happening to the had, with an eventful but pretty cliched backstory. Gabrielle, Gigi (Patrick d’Assumcao), and the other main characters exist to revolve around Naoufel, and don’t get much development outside of Gabrielle. However, enough context is given to make you want Naoufel and his hand to hopefully reunite in some way, and when the stories start to intersect, Naoufel becomes much more interesting and rewarding as a character to the audience.
I don’t know what was in the water in France this year, but apparently they’re 3/3 on international gems. The Les Mis modernization, fire portraits, and the brave little hand that could. Netflix, thanks for continuing to provide us weird little films like this one, that would otherwise not see a global audience. If you keep it up, I promise to look the other way as you cripple the theatre experience across the planet.