Cut-out puppet style with combination of gekianimation telling a Buddhist Wizard of Oz story with Cronenberg-style body horror and overtly inspired by the works of Man Gataro and HR Giger-esque characters. Without a doubt, Ujicha signs an artistic work as rich as it is. A unique delirium staged both marvellous and nightmarish. The film follows Beniko who gets dragged into an uncanny tale and wants to rescue her parents. She finds shelter in a sanctuary and begins to realize that her situation is bleak and more disorienting than she can comprehend. Fascinating, and it only gets better and more interesting weaving the story of the Buddha thefts and its connection to Beniko's family. This story is so crazy that I imagine it was penned in a setting locked up in a smoke-filled room coming up with one crazy idea after another. Balancing, sometimes skilfully and sometimes not, between flashbacks, spectacle, reality and illusion, the undoubtedly ambitious direction always keeps its goal clear. Ujicha plays with the characters and composes sequences as weird as they are surprising, and many details make sense. One of the most incredible scenes, when a dog (Big Bang) joins the tale, it's enduring, the appearance of Beniko's Grandmother is also one of strangest moment in the film. In short, this is a movie you don't just like, you come to experience, it becomes part of you. As a viewer you only think: WTF.. It's MORBIDLY BEAUTIFUL!!
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