Sundance 2021: ‘Cryptozoo’ Reveals Consequences of Trying to Tame the Beast

By starrymag | February 3, 2021

By: Andrew Rossow, Esq.

 

Remember James Cameron’s Avatar, where you had a world of magic and native creatures? Take that and mix it with Fantasia, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Greatest Showman and Where the Wild Things Are, and what do you get? A hauntingly beautiful 1960’s animated tale that appears as if we are all having the craziest acid trip in the world. Premiering at Sundance Film Festival 2021, comes Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, which brings viewers into a 60’s animated, colorful and beautifully hand-drawn world of magical creatures known as Cryptids.

 

In Avatar, Cameron paints a picture where humans have depleted Earth’s natural resources, leading to a severe energy crisis. The government mines a valuable mineral on Pandora, a densely forested habitable moon whose atmosphere is poisonous to humans and inhabited by the Na’vi, a species of 10-foot tall, blue-skinned, sapient humanoids that live in harmony with Mother Nature and worship a goddess named Eywa. In the film, we watch how the Government intends to not only destroy Pandora, but capture and enslave the Na’vi for its own purposes. Shaw’s Cryptozoo is no different in terms of behavior, but adds several layers of complexity that seem to mirror just how utterly backwards our political and social climate is today in 2021.

 

What You Can Expect to See

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viewers are first introduced to a promiscuous and stoned hippie couple who have snuck off deep into the woods to engage in sexual intercourse. The hippie lovers, Amber (voiced by Louisa Krause) and curiously dim-witted Matthew (voiced by Michael Cera), discover a tall, never-ending fence which they believe to be a military installation.

What they didn’t yet know was that this was no military base, but a refuge (or sanctuary as it’s later described as) for endangered and misunderstood mythical creatures, known as “Cryptids.” These creatures are composed from legends of numerous folk tales and several hundred different cultures. But, we must warn you, that this film, while beautiful in every sense of the word, is just as graphic, expletive and disturbing in terms of rhetoric and behavior.

#1 – The Brutal Murder of a Unicorn

Magic isn’t for everyone. However, refusing to believe in something bigger than ourselves is what stifles society’s mentality of seeing the bigger picture. The opening scene with the unicorn exemplifies this. I remember watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when it first came out and being freaked out seeing Lord Voldemort hovering over the dead body of a unicorn. But never in my years did I think I would ever see the actual murder of such a creature take place before my eyes.

At the onset of the film we see Matthew slowly try to approach the unicorn with pure awe. Heeding to Amber’s warning of backing off, as it was clear the unicorn felt threatened and/or scared, Matthew begins to walk backward, but trips over a rock, hurling it forward into the face of the unicorn. At which point, the unicorn attacks him, immediately piercing through his chest with its horn. Screaming in horror, Amber tries to rescue Matthew, but in her efforts breaks the unicorn’s leg, snaps its horn in half and brutally bashes its brains in.

Horrifying. But a lesson to be learned here as the film progresses.

#2 – A Sanctuary For Whom? Us or These Creatures?

As the film progresses, we learn that this story is less about Amber and the now deceased Matthew and everything to do with Lauren Gray (voiced by Lake Bell). Gray is the badass Indiana Jones of magical creatures. Gray created and opened Cryptozoo (behind the fence) to provide a refuge or “sanctuary,” as she calls it for all Cryptids, protecting them from the clutches of the government who intends to capture, enslave, and weaponize them for the “protection of the country.”

Sound familiar? (Trump Administration)

While Gray’s intentions are truly pure and heartfelt, is this for Gray to assume? Our humanity tells us that we must protect Mother Nature, but at what cost? Gray believes that it’s her duty to assume these creatures need to be protected, tamed, contained. However, what this equates to is the idea of “ownership.”

But they are accustomed to surviving, hiding or blending in with society. While circumstances may not seem hopeful, it is the sole right of these creatures to decide whether they choose to hide from the world or find a means of living safely. Not Gray’s. We see Gray face internal battles between morality and ethics throughout.

“They can fend for themselves, as they always have,” Gray says at the end of the film.

#3 – Watch This with Your Child (Or Parents)

As graphically expletive as Cryptozoo is, this is a film that every child and parent should watch, hopefully together. Our world, now more than ever, needs love and healing after four tumultuous years of such hatred, evil and systemic injustice.

A beautiful quote from the film accurately states that:

“We can only greet the strange and unusual with love. And if we show them love, they will return love and love will spread and envelope all the beings in our diverse, wondrous world.”

 

 

Cryptozoo has a runtime of 90-minutes. It was directed by Dash Shaw and the animated beauty within, directed by Jane Samborski and led by Emily Wolver. The film stars Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, Alex Karpovsky, Angeliki Papoulia, Zoe Kazan and Grace Zabriskie.