Sundance has never seen a film quite like director M dot Strange’s We Are the Strange, but then again, neither has any audience, anywhere (except perhaps in the future, where M dot Strange has traveled from to bring us this film). The first digitally animated feature to screen at the Sundance Film Festival, We Are the Strange is the product of a single filmmaker’s labor – dot Strange made the film by himself in his bedroom over the course of two and a half years, and is a rightfully self-described “one man evil animation studio.”
We Are the Strange is the story of M and Blue, two outcasts living in a dark futuristic world. M is a small boy that looks like a doll that’s been smashed to pieces and then sewn back together slightly awry, who gets extremely excited over arcade games and ice cream. Blue is a leggy beautiful young woman cast out to the Forest of Still Life by her abusive boyfriend, a misogynistic mound of pixel muscles. She crosses paths with M, they go to StopMo City in search of ice cream, and there are monsters. Lots of monsters. And some giant robots too. And there is a plot twist.
Brought to life by ‘Str8nime’ (strange + 8 bit + anime) an animation style invented by M dot Strange, the film plays like a mix tape of the best elements of every animation style known to man (and possibly a few known only to dot Strange and the aliens he says tell him to do things). That said, We Are the Strange is a truly unique film from a truly creative and original filmmaker. There is a reason over half a million people watched the trailer for this film on YouTube months before it’s premiere. If you’ve been waiting for something new, something engaging and hypnotic and awe-inspiring, this is the film you’ve been waiting for.
Click the video below to see director M dot Strange answer audience question after the premiere of his film.
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