Decorado Review: Surreal Animation & Confident Worldbuilding Can’t Make Up For A Messy Plot

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Animation seems perfectly suited for telling surreal stories, yet this potential is surprisingly untapped. While there are some excellent examples – like Satoshi Kon’s Paprika, René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet, and Phil Tippett’s Mad God – they remain relatively few and far between.

Alberto Vázquez is a filmmaker gaining recognition for his unique style, particularly with films like the coming-of-age horror Birdboy: The Forgotten Children and the genre-mixing Unicorn Wars, which blends elements of Bambi and Apocalypse Now. His latest work shows he’s full of interesting and thought-provoking ideas, rooted in existential themes. However, while these concepts are strong, the film lacks a clear, unifying direction, resulting in an uneven viewing experience.

Decorado Never Makes Sense Of Its Fourth-Wall-Breaking World

Based on the short film of the same name, Decorado takes place in a world populated by talking animals. A powerful corporation called ALMA controls everything – from banks and factories to housing and the police. The story focuses on Arnold, a mouse who has been out of work for almost ten years, and his wife, Maria, who is working hard to achieve her dream of becoming a professional cartoonist.

Facing possible eviction, Arnold starts to wonder if what he believes is real. He and his two best friends realize their neighbors are watching them closely. Determined to escape this controlling situation, Arnold begins a confusing and dangerous adventure that will drastically change the lives of himself, Maria, and everyone around them.

The first half hour of Vázquez’s 95-minute film, Decorado, is captivating and immediately draws you in. Like his previous work, the film—co-written with F. Xavier Manuel Ruiz—skillfully reveals the complexities of the ALMA-powered world. It contrasts stark poverty with the lives of those on the fringes of society—individuals living in the woods and struggling with addiction—and introduces intriguing fantastical creatures, including a reverse mermaid and a demon who plays the harp.

The show’s most intriguing aspect is the possibility that Arnold, Maria, and their friends aren’t living in reality, but inside a fabricated world—an illusion or a set, as the title suggests. The mystery of what exists outside their world and whether they can escape it often feels like a captivating blend of the unsettling atmosphere found in David Lynch films and the thought-provoking journey of self-discovery in Jim Carrey’s The Truman Show.

Despite a strong central idea, the film struggles to fully realize its potential. It quickly moves from a mind-bending mystery to a touching exploration of aging, a failing marriage, and sadness. Ultimately, the film might have been more effective if it had used a different approach to convey its deeper, philosophical themes.

The biggest weakness of Decorado lies in its final act, where the central mystery feels forced and unresolved. Without giving away the ending, the film almost reveals the rules of Arnold and Maria’s world, but then abruptly avoids doing so. While surreal storytelling doesn’t always need to provide clear answers, the two storylines never quite come together thematically, leaving the overall narrative feeling disjointed.

A major problem with the story of Decorado is its relentlessly bleak tone. While Vázquez effectively captures the darkly funny idea of talking animals struggling within a capitalist world, and some emotional moments are genuinely powerful, the constant negativity ultimately overshadows any deeper meaning. Although the script retains some of its earlier surreal humor even as the plot thickens, the story becomes so overwhelmingly depressing that its central message gets lost.

Even though the story has some weaknesses, the beautiful animation in Decorado helps make up for them. The film’s visuals are clearly inspired by classic cartoons like early Mickey Mouse, Fantasia, and Betty Boop, and it features some truly memorable images, especially a unique reverse mermaid and a menacing owl. Because surrealist films invite different interpretations and deeper analysis, I’m open to watching Decorado again and trying to understand Vázquez’s artistic intentions more fully.

Decorado hits limited theaters nationwide on May 15.

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2026-05-14 17:08