Masaaki Yuasa is a nearly unparalleled stylistic storyteller whose work you can spot from a mile away, and Mind Game was an early masterpiece of his that I return to every year – there’s really nothing else like it that I’m aware of. Whereas other Yuasa projects explore issues like having sex with monsters to jazz music (Kemonozume), selling your memories to upper-class space-Frenchmen (Kaiba), or how delightful it is to be drunk in the summer (The Night is Short, Walk on Girl), Mind Game is a crazy beautiful smash-up of mediums that follows 20-yr old incel and artist Nishi as he tries to take ownership over his own life.
It’s directed by Dave McKean, its uncanny CGI and haunting soundtrack (by Iain Ballamy) create an atmosphere that feels so surreal. I highly recommend experiencing it for yourself.
