Violence Voyager

Ujicha's 2018 Japanese animation follows two children heading into the mountains during the summer holidays. On the way they enter an abandoned amusement park they come across by chance; inside is not what it appears and they cannot leave. The most striking thing is the technique. Ujicha shoots paper cut-out figures moved by hand; the characters do not move so much as slide, and liquids are applied with real material. The result holds a constant tension between a surface that looks like a child's toy and content that is deeply disturbing. The narrative joins science fiction to body horror. What lies behind the park is an experiment and its subjects are children; the film gives that away early and draws its tension from the escape. Who it's for: those who like independent Japanese animation and body horror. Who it's not for: viewers who do not want to watch children harmed and graphic bodily violence; the film shows it in detail.