TIFF 2024 Review: Inkwo for When the Starving Return – “Full marks for utilizing the craft of stop motion animation”

When unburied malevolent creatures emerge. an Indigenous warrior who can shift between genders makes use of a medicine known as Inkwo to protect their community

Haunted and hunted by a race of human-eating supernatural beings called the Wheetago, Dove seeks to find the means to fend them off in a world that has suffered an ecological catastrophe that has caused a permanent deep freeze.   By having the ability to be either male or female, Dove is both the protector of earth and after rescuing a frog being tortured discovers that the medicine required to heal the world comes from within.

Check out all of our TIFF coverageAn illustrative animated style is effectively adopted for the exposition of how Wheetago came to be through the existence of human greed; there is a nice narrative flow with the haunting images morphing from one into the other.  The opening stop-motion sequence with Dove being pursued by a creature lurking underneath the ice and subsequently emerging in silhouette is thrilling to watch but the same cannot be said for the rest of the story which gets a little confusing at times and feels generic, especially when the Wheetago scream.

Full marks for utilizing the craft of stop motion animation which is no easy feat to achieve and the digital effects seamlessly assist provide the atmospherics that make the settings feel more organic and believable. There is an interesting connection between a constellation marking on the face of Dove that resembles one in the night sky but the explanation is somewhat elusive.   The environmental message of the need for balance in the world to ensure its future is hammered home which somewhat takes away from the dramatic impact but is nevertheless important to heed.

The 49th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5-15, 2024, and for more information visit tiff.net.    

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.

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