Chicken for Linda!
Chicken for Linda! is playing in theaters at the time of writing. Not rated. Common Sense says 10+.
STORY: A
A dazzling example of how powerful a simple story can be.
Linda’s mother unfairly punishes her one day. Feeling guilty, she asks Linda what she can do to make it up to her. Linda wants only one thing: for her mother to make her late-father’s famous chicken and peppers. Simple, right?
There’s something refreshing about a film that doesn’t need to dazzle with CGI or to be stuffed full of manufactured ,memeable moments. The storytelling is skillful, self-assured, and vibrant. It’s a reminder of why we tell stories in the first place.
THE SCOOP: Check out Chicken for Linda!’s IMDb page, here.
PEOPLE: A+
These hand drawn characters feel more real than most of the people I’ve met in real life.
At first glance, they seem basic. You’ll be forgiven for labeling these characters when you first meet them: bumbling police officer, judgmental older sister, bratty child. But all of them quickly evolve into complex, complete people who bring this story fully to life.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Check out GKIDS Films’s featurette about recording the dialogue for the film, here. (2 mins)
FILM NERD STUFF: A+
The tender animation style will charm and hypnotize you.
The opening sequence shows how Linda’s father dies, and its unique animation style gently considers everyone in the audience. It simultaneously shields the kids in the audience from the sharp edges of a tragic event while filling the moment with enough emotional resonance for adults to absorb its full impact.
The scene is a quiet, powerful triumph.
DIRECTOR’S CUT: Check out Unifrance’s interview with directors Chiara Malta and Sebastien Laudenbach, here. (6 mins)
ELECTIVE CLASS (More than Meets the Eye): A
Don’t miss the moving message amidst all the incredible slapstick.
Above anything else, Chicken for Linda! would best be described as a “hoot”. But it also serves as a manual for how to properly grieve, how to move on with our lives, and how to live in community with one another.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Many contemporary animated films are designed to be enjoyed by all ages. By that, I mean to say that kids will scream at all the amplified, juvenile hijinks while their parents giggle at the Gen X references and sneaky moments of adult humor. You’ll get very different answers if you ask a mother and her son what they loved about it. It would likely sound as if they’re describing two different films.
Chicken for Linda! is different. Its genius lies in this: grandparents, grand kids, and everyone in between will love the same things about it. They’ll be able to chat about the film as peers. Hopefully, they’ll learn to appreciate the other’s perspective because the film affects both of them so deeply.
Chicken for Linda! is glorious. I’d say that barring a surprise 2024 release date for the third Spider-Verse movie, this may very well wind up being the Best Animated Picture winner next spring.