The Itching
2017 · 10m · USA
Directed by Dianne Bellino, Adam Davies
Genres: animation, horror, LGBTQ+
Tones: dark, melancholic, surreal
Stop-motion fable about a wolf and a rabbit whose relationship erodes when one contracts a mysterious itch that compels her to self-harm. A queer-coded animal allegory about the cost of suppressing yourself to belong.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Cute felt animals, body horror, lesbian heartbreak — pick three, this picks all three. The medium does the violence the script won't say out loud.
A body-horror allegory in the Cronenberg lineage that lets a literal wound stand in for desire — the festering image does the heavy lifting where dialogue would flinch.
Plasticine wolf-and-rabbit stop-motion turned body-horror queer allegory — felt-and-fur whimsy weaponized for self-harm imagery is exactly the kind of refusal-to-be-one-thing that NoBudge frames as its genius.
Reviews
The refusal to be one thing or another, as it turns out, is key to the film's genius.