I Lost My Body (2019) – Summary, Review (With Spoilers)

I Lost My Body is a sight to behold, but when it comes to the story, you may not feel it gives you what you desire.

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Directed By		Jérémy Clapin
Written By		Jérémy Clapin, Guillaume Laurant
Date Released (Netflix)		11/29/2019
Genre(s)		Animation, Drama
Noted Cast
Naoufel	Hakim Faris
Gabrielle	Victoire Du Bois

Plot Summary/ Review

Naoufel is your average guy, just with a bit more trauma than most would like. But, in his adult years, he is alive, has a job (that he hates), but then he comes across Gabrielle. She is a local librarian he was supposed to deliver pizzas for, but then he was quite late, and between then and an accident, the pizza was ruined. However, after a life of just surviving, Gabrielle gives him a reason to seek the opportunity to thrive.

Highlights

It Sucks You In

Between the animation and Naoufel, you’ll feel sucked in and attentive to the point a sudden noise will likely scare the crap out of you. For there is something strangely calming, like listening to the sounds of a yoga studio, about this film that puts you in a trance. Making it so, when you see Naoufel’s hand cut off that is like hearing a heavy metal riff after listening to the sounds of a small stream for more than an hour.

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On The Fence

The Payoff

Mind you, with there being such a huge push of Amelie’s writer being involved, naturally, you think this would give off the same vibe, and in some ways, it does. We got a charismatic stalker, who isn’t the happiest of people, someone who they like being a tad distant, and this fantasy aspect. One that isn’t so much childlike as it is trying to avoid the truth of what happened.

However, as much as you are enraptured, things ends without you necessarily feeling a sense of conclusion. I mean, one could take Naoufel’s ending to be about acceptance and making himself happy, rather than seek that out through something or someone else, but after having you in the grasp of its hand so long things end as limp as Naoufel’s hand.

Making it so, like the fly, you may have been in the grips of Naoufel, but in the end, you slip out unscathed.

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Overall

Met Expectations

The issue with any film or show advertising who wrote it is that it limited their potential to grow and do new things. It’s like hearing M. Night Shyamalan has something new out. Automatically you think, horror and suspense, and if it is anything but that, then they have an uphill battle to deal with. That is the issue with I Lost My Body for you are expecting this whimsical and eccentric lead and romance, but you don’t get that.

This isn’t to imply that you won’t fall for Naoufel, but as much as the vibe is there that you expect, the story isn’t, and that did cause minor disappointment.

Would Watch Again?

I would say I Lost My Body is worth seeing with friends who haven’t seen it yet. However, I can’t say it is something to see repeatedly on your own.

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Rating:  Mixed (Divisive)

This is such a strange film for us. It captures your attention in ways most Netflix, or any streaming platform film, doesn’t. Yet, once the trance is broken, you aren’t feeling elated, mad, in awe, or any of that. Like a hypnotist who breaks the spell, you just shake it off and find yourself walking away with only an inkling of a memory of what happened.

Hence the mixed label. I Lost My Body is strangely wonderful thanks to the art, the music, and the characters, but the story doesn’t match the impact of everything else the film offers.