WRINKLES – SLIFF Review

Silver screen icon Bette Davis is generally credited with this adage, “Old age isn’t for sissies.”. This is well illustrated in the Spanish feature-length animated film WRINKLES based on Paco Roica’s award-winning graphic novel. The prime focus of this tale is Emilio, an elderly widower (and former bank manager) residing with his son’s family until he becomes too difficult (tossing his soup seems to be their breaking point). The son and his wife drop him off to live in a cold, sparsely furnished old age home. There the stiff, buttoned-down Emilio is assigned to share a room with the gregarious conman Miguel (“I’ll take care of that for ten Euros!’). As they tour the facility, the men walk near the stairwell and hear the howls emanating from the dreaded second floor. Miguel explains that this is where those with extreme dementia and Alzheimer’s’ Disease reside. As the year slowly passes, Emilio begins to deteriorate physically and mentally as Miguel tries to figure out a way to hide his pal’s condition from the supervising doctor and the staff. The stories of neglect and loneliness are balanced out by some of the home’s eccentric residents and Miguel’s rebel spirit. The animation is put to good use in flashback sequences involving Emilio as a child and a young father and also with several of the residents (we see how one couple met as young children). We also get to go inside some of their fantasies (one lady sees alien kidnappers everywhere while another believes she’s an elegant passenger on the Orient Express). The style of animation is close to the old school, hand-drawn cell animation (I was reminded of the excellent Batman TV cartoons of the 1990’s) as opposed to Pixar-type CGI. This is an expertly told tale that will have you reflecting on how to care for your own family, and what will happen if you need some help yourself when you enter the “golden years”. This film proves that animation can tackle the most challenging subject matter.

WRINKLES screens as part of the 21st Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival on Sunday, November 11 at 4 PM and Monday, November 12 at 9 PM at the Plaza Frontenac Cinemas