Another World review kaleidoscopic afterlife fairytale with the dark fury of a Greek tragedy

"The wonder of Studio Ghibli meets the gruesomeness of Game of Thrones and the dark fury of a Greek tragedy in this striking and deeply strange animation from young Hong Kong film-maker Tommy Kai Chung Ng. His film is a gorgeous fairytale glutted with gut-wrenching moments of violence that make it strictly not suitable for kids. In one scene, a medieval feudal lord burns peasants alive in a grain store;"

"in another, a teenage princess lashes the back of a general she blames for her father's death to a bloody pulp. It opens in a place called Another World, an afterlife stopover for humans who have died, on their way to reincarnation. In this netherworld we meet a troupe of adorable pint-sized spirits called soul keepers, whose job is to guide the dead to the next life."

"The place is run by Goddess Mira, who despairs that after millennia of untying knots she has failed to eradicate human hate and cruelty. It's a world beautifully animated in a kaleidoscope of trippy pastels, with some breathtaking images. One of the soul keepers, Gudo, is curious about human emotions, and the film tells the stories of the dead he helps."

Another World is an animated fairytale set in an afterlife stopover where pint-sized soul keepers guide the dead toward reincarnation. The dead leave unresolved resentments behind as knots of red silk. Goddess Mira, who runs the place, despairs at millennia of untying knots without eradicating human hate and cruelty. Soul keeper Gudo becomes curious about human emotions and helps the dead, including Yuri, who searches for her missing brother, and Princess Goran, whose grief threatens to sprout a seed of evil. The film pairs kaleidoscopic pastel visuals with brutal scenes of violence, exploring human destructiveness alongside the beauty of the human heart.

Read at www.theguardian.com