The Swiss filmmaker Claude Barras's debut feature film – the stop-motion animation "My Life as a Courgette" (2016) – was nominated for an Oscar. Now he is back with a follow-up, and it is just as distinctive as its predecessor.
Once again, he has populated a "quirky handcrafted world" with expressive, clay-sculpted figures reminiscent of childhood drawings, said Dan Jolin on Time Out. But whereas the first movie was a tragi-comedy that played out in a children's care home in Switzerland, this one takes place on the island of Borneo, where schoolgirl Kéria (Babette De Coster) has moved with her widowed father (Benoît Poelvoorde), so that he can take up a job with a palm oil company.
Kéria's father is Swiss, but her late mother was a member of a local indigenous community, the Penan, said Graeme Virtue in the Big Issue. Kéria seems "disconnected" from this part of her heritage; but she bonds with a young orangutan that has been orphaned by the loggers. Then, one of her cousins is sent to stay with them to get him away from the protests against the palm oil giant's deforestation efforts. When he flees back to his home in the rainforest, taking the ape with him, she pursues him – and so learns about Penan culture, and the threats to their way of life.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Philadelphia’s Calder GardensFeature A permanent new museum
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetime
Feature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’
Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Philadelphia’s Calder Gardens
Feature A permanent new museum
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipeThe Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
Susie Dent picks her favourite booksThe Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
-
6 incredible homes under $1 millionFeature Featuring a home in the National Historic Landmark District of Virginia and a renovated mid-century modern house in Washington
-
The Harder They Come: ‘triumphant’ adaptation of cinema classicThe Week Recommends ‘Uniformly excellent’ cast follow an aspiring musician facing the ‘corruption’ of Kingston, Jamaica
-
House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period dramaThe Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch
