Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
An inspirational speaker becomes reinvigorated after meeting a lively woman who shakes up his mundane existence.
Anomalisa is a profoundly singular work — Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's stop-motion puppet film about alienation and the solipsistic collapse of human connection is unlike almost anything else in animation or drama. The use of a single voice actor (Tom Noonan) for every character except Lisa is a formally brilliant conceit that literalizes Michael Stone's existential condition. Acting (voice performances, particularly David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh) is exceptional and intimate in ways that feel raw and real. Novelty is very high — its conception, tone, and execution are genuinely one-of-a-kind. The plot is deliberately thin and mundane by design, which serves the film's themes but limits narrative engagement as a standalone strength. The ending is quietly devastating but somewhat abrupt, leaving some viewers cold rather than resonant. Cinematography/craft for stop-motion is impressive but not groundbreaking visually beyond the conceptual framework.