Reviews

Jul 27, 2022
The Midnight Parasites is probably the best Yoji Kuri short I've ever seen. His style is typical kind of crude, the equipment and resources available to him were limited, and he didn't have a staff to dictate. His style works best when he's trying to create a unique world with its own special atmosphere. This one resembles some kind of hell or nightmare and it draws heavily from medieval imagery of demons and painters like Hieronymus Bosch—even directly lifting a few figures from Garden of Earthly Delights. It's one of the more surreal shorts I've seen as of late.

Adding to the roughness, the animated figures are all in color, while they inhabit a monochromatic world—a world that is not only very sparse, but arranged with pleasing composition and texture as the creatures roam the landscape. There is seemingly no sense of direction to this world and the actors all seem bestial and lacking any real sentience, though there does seem to be some kind of logic in operation here—a kind of inverted, hellish ecology; nature has taken its course, but it's far removed from what we know.

There's no story or dialogue to speak of. We're permitted to explore the world through the eyes and whims of the various critters, and if you really paid close attention, you might notice some patterns, but this primarily appears to be a depiction of a disturbing dream. The electronic score is also very, very good and complements the film perfectly.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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