Nice visual style and all, very distinctive; and certainly creative and original. Only, it’s traditional when making long-form animation to attach the visual style to an actual story and maybe some characters. While there technically was a story in here, it was obviously an afterthought. This would have been a great 15-minute short film. But as an 80-minute feature, it’s trying too hard and wearing out its welcome.

Plus, withering contempt and pointed satire mix poorly with whimsy. It feels like someone was trying to make one of those bleak indie movies at the same time as they were trying to make a whimsical little fable, and the result doesn’t work.

In short, interesting, but fatally flawed. See Spirited Away instead, which combines its creativity and visual style with an interesting plot, real characters, and a more consistent tone.