Consuming Spirits

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martin f A sad, dark but very slow movie. You follow some miserable characters while slowly discovering their families' story until some smart and memorable revelations. That said, it falls under the now too common trope in indie movie where the characters are so used to their misery that they just barely react to anything and talk very slowly about nothing. I don't mind a slow-paced movie, but some scenes felt useless, which can be a bore. The art is amazing, balancing between gray pencil drawn animation and stop-motion with painted papers. I loved it, and it really fits the gloomy atmosphere, it may sometimes feel too simple, but some scenes are very pretty to look at (one in particularly in a church with colored glasses) Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member I give this a 86/B+. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Consuming Spirits can't be described in a few short words because it is one of the most originally constructed movies I've seen in a while. Using different types of animation throughout, director Chris Sullivan is able to give off various atmospheres and allow his characters to gain some depth beyond their fragmented appearance. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Amazingly creative and enthralling animation done in multiple styles and with a story that takes the whole film to unravel -- simply consuming. Definitely a worthwhile film to see for any film fan with a love of great animation or amazing stories. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member A film you've likely never heard of before and may never hear of again, "Consuming Spirits" is a labor of love (emphasis on the labor) many years in the making. An animated feature that famously took writer/director Chris Sullivan 15 years to complete, "Consuming Spirits" combines cut-out animation, traditional hand-drawn work and three-dimensional stop motion to create a visually mesmerizing fictional Midwestern town. The convoluted narrative relates the intertwined stories of a few of the denizens of this town, exploring topics such as alcohol consumption, familial devotion, extramarital affairs in a darkly comedic fashion that suits its haunting and often purposefully grotesque visuals. Some of the most memorable moments include a non-professionally approved amputation and a man gallivanting about disguised as a deer. "Consuming Spirits" could, and likely will, be considered a masterpiece by many. I think it's pulled down by its excessive length (the film clocks in at 130 minutes), but the storylines do segue together nicely at the end. On the whole, this is a meticulously crafted and admirably realized example of the storytelling capacities of traditional animation, even if the measured, hypnotic narration of protagonist Earl Gray (Robert Levy) does occasionally make your eyes droop. Read more: http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/entertainment/wisconsin-film-festival-recap/article_cb832ade-a8c5-11e2-ae5f-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2SMHjtBSD Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Although the film gave me nightmares and made me want to cry afterwards, it was beautifully and meticulously crafted. The film creates both a hilarious and depressing world as a metaphor for the life of an underclass, unprivileged town whose hopes and dreams amount to merely surviving and caring for one another. These basic needs and wants can resemble our own fear of death and losing the ones we love. The entire film is a tragic reminder that life and love are both delicate and fleeting. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Consuming Spirits

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