Wrinkles

Emilio worked as a bank manager. Now he is placed in a care home; his son brings him and tells him it is temporary. Emilio has begun to forget. His roommate Miguel has been there for years; he lives by taking small sums from the other residents and pities nobody. There is a rule in the home: those whose condition worsens are moved to the upper floor, and nobody comes back from there. To avoid the upper floor Emilio builds an arrangement with Miguel. Ignacio Ferreras directs. It is a Spanish production and hand drawn. The source is Paco Roca's graphic novel. The film won the Goya awards in Spain for best animation and adapted screenplay. Its subject is Alzheimer's and old age; the film treats it as animation not made for children. What is most striking is its realism; the progress of the illness is shown without exaggeration and without exploiting emotion. The humour is dry; Miguel mocks how the institution works and that carries the weight of the narrative. The aeroplane scene is its most cited part and shows directly how memory works. The animation is simple and the colour measured; the narrative avoids visual display. Who it is for: viewers who like animation for adults and narratives about old age. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, there is little hope, and the last section is hard.