Film
We Are the Strange
A fever-dream animated feature where two misfits navigate a grotesque, hostile world rendered in hand-drawn surrealism. It's deliberately difficult, sometimes incoherent, visually punishing—less concerned with narrative clarity than with mood and texture. For viewers who prize artistic ambition and strangeness over comfort.
If you liked this
Paprika2006
A wildly inventive anime about dreams bleeding into reality. Like *We Are the Strange*, it prioritizes visual texture and psychological unease over plot coherence, with a protagonist trapped in an increasingly hostile, irrational world.
But The narrative is intentionally fragmented and surreal to the point of frustration. If you need a clear story, this will exhaust you.
MirrorMask2005
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's live-action/animated hybrid about a girl trapped in a darkly beautiful nightmare realm. Shares the same commitment to unsettling imagery and genuine disorientation that rewards patient watching.
But The logic is dreamlike and subjective rather than rational. It can feel pretentious, and the plot serves the visuals rather than vice versa.
The Secret of Kells2009
Irish-Belgian hand-drawn animation that uses color, geometry, and mythology to build atmosphere over narrative. It's strange and visually striking but considerably more luminous and story-driven than *We Are the Strange*.
But It's still quite contemplative and slower-paced than conventional animation. If you want action or clear stakes, you'll feel the absence.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Fantastic Planet1973
Both films use animation's ability to render hostile, inexplicable worlds where the viewer experiences the protagonist's alienation firsthand. Both trust the audience to sit with unease.
A Czech-Parisian stop-motion feature where enslaved humanoids rebel against giant blue aliens. It uses animation as a tool for alienation—the world feels genuinely *other* rather than cute. Same principle as *We Are the Strange*, completely different era and execution.
But The pacing is glacially slow and the story is a pretext for world-building. It's more Jodorowsky than Spielberg.
More like this (8)
Perfect Blue1998
Satoshi Kon's psychological thriller where reality fractures through animation. It uses visual impossibility and distortion to unsettle the viewer in ways that feel formally similar to the hostility in *We Are the Strange*.
But It's deeply uncomfortable and deals with sexual violence, voyeurism, and mental breakdown. The subject matter is bleak.
Eraserhead1977
Lynch's industrial-nightmare short-feature where atmosphere and dread replace conventional narrative. It's an obvious ancestor of *We Are the Strange*'s willingness to disturb for artistic effect rather than entertain.
But It's barely 90 minutes of pure existential horror with no resolution. Some find it more tedious than terrifying.
The Phantom Tollbooth1970
Live-action and animated hybrid about a bored boy lost in a surreal kingdom. It has a gentler tone but shares the same commitment to rendering an internally consistent alternate world that operates by its own rules.
But It's a children's film from 1970, which means the animation is uneven and the pacing reflects that era's slower rhythms.
Wizards1977
Ralph Bakshi's post-apocalyptic fantasy animated film. It's crude but audacious, visually grimy and weird, uninterested in polish—closest to *We Are the Strange* in its willingness to prioritize atmosphere over spectacle.
But The animation is deliberately rough and sometimes inconsistent. Some sequences feel unfinished, which is either raw authenticity or a genuine drawback depending on your tolerance.
The Plague Dogs1982
Martin Rosen's dystopian animated film about two dogs fleeing a research facility. It's bleak, often ugly, and uses animation to convey genuine suffering in a world that offers no comfort.
But It's relentlessly grim. There are no jokes, minimal hope, and it ends bleakly. Some viewers find it punishing rather than moving.
Dead Leaves2004
A 50-minute violent anarchic anime about two amnesiacs escaping an alien prison. Raw and chaotic, it shares *We Are the Strange*'s refusal to explain itself and its aggressive visual language.
But It's deliberately incoherent and often incomprehensible. The pacing is frantic. If you're watching to understand, you'll be frustrated.
The Kentucky Fried Movie1977
Both abandon linear narrative for a collage of heightened, difficult ideas strung together by aesthetic coherence alone. Both feel like they're deliberately testing your patience as part of their contract with the viewer.
A David Zucker sketch comedy film in live-action that's formally chaotic and crude—pure energy over narrative. *We Are the Strange* is the psychedelic horror equivalent: a feature-length rupture in conventional form.
But It's an avant-garde comedy, so nothing lands if that tone doesn't click. Many sketches don't land at all, intentionally.
Gerry2002
Both films create existential horror through patient accumulation of unease rather than action. Both use their medium to make watching uncomfortable, and both trust that discomfort alone is sufficient artistic justification.
Gus Van Sant's experimental film about two boys getting lost in the desert. It's almost plotless, shot in long takes, and uses landscape and time to create a mounting sense of dread. It's grounded where *We Are the Strange* is surreal, but they share the same commitment to mood over narrative satisfaction.
But It's 100+ minutes of deliberate tedium. Nothing happens. If you're watching for plot or resolution, you will suffer.
People
Cast
- M. dot StrangeHIM (voice)
- Halleh SeddighzadehBlue (voice)
- Stuart MahoneyOri / The Pastor (voice)
David ChoeRain (voice)- Chaylon BlancettThe Wooo Monster (voice)
Directing
- M. dot StrangeDirector
Writing
- M. dot StrangeAuthor