Cryptozoo (2021)

Rich in originality as well as its animation and storytelling, Cryptozoo tells the story of Lauren, a cryptid hunter who’s chasing the mysterious baku, a dream eating hybrid creature of legend. The army wants to seize the world’s cryptids for military purposes whereas Lauren, assisted by friends, is trying to hunt them down to put them in a Jurassic Park type zoo where they will be safe. Written and directed by Dash Shaw who gained his ideas from an unfinished 1920’s short film, the animation is quite unlike anything I’ve seen before. Despite the colourful nature of them film, it’s not for kids; violence and bad language as well as nudity are not shied away from, meaning it brings a sense of legitimacy to things, allowing plenty of allegories to be drawn between Cryptozoo and the real life of today. If you know your mythical creatures, this is certainly for you; name a creature- it’ll be in here somewhere. There is certain bizarrity to the whole thing; the 2D animation is like something akin to South Park but not quite so crude in sight. That basic comparison doesn’t do the film justice, it’s really something that needs to be experienced rather than described, and it’s well worth £10 of your money a month to check out films like this on Mubi. 7.7/10