Kill It and Leave This Town

Mariusz Wilczyński's 2020 Polish animation is a work of mourning he drew by hand over fourteen years. Fleeing despair after losing those dearest to him, the protagonist hides in a safe land of memory where time stands still and everyone he loved is alive. The story is not linear; memories, nightmares and scenes from childhood run into each other. The drawing is deliberately coarse and unsteady; the figures are unfinished and the lines uncertain. That is the opposite of the smoothness animation usually seeks, and it is what creates the film's emotional effect. Major Polish actors including Krystyna Janda and Andrzej Chyra provide voices. It screened at the Berlin International Film Festival and won a prize at Annecy. Who it's for: viewers interested in animation for adults, experimental form and personal films about grief. Who it's not for: anyone wanting narrative flow, or avoiding content about death, illness and the death of animals.