The Girl Without Hands
The Girl Without Hands

Movie spotlight

The Girl Without Hands

2025
Movie
20 min
English

On the film set of an adaptation of the Grimm’s tale -The Girl Without Hands-, the main actress sees her relationship deteriorate itself gradually as the shooting progress. The curse of the character she embodies emerge and pushes her to the frontiers of her reality.

Insights

IMDb6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes94%
Metacritic73/100
Google Users92%
Director: Sébastien LaudenbachGenres: Animation, Fantasy, Fairy Tale

Plot Summary

A miller makes a deal with the devil to gain riches, but the price is his daughter, whom he must give away. The pure-hearted girl escapes her captor but is cursed to have no hands. She embarks on a perilous journey, facing further trials and temptations, but her inner strength and kindness ultimately guide her towards love and redemption.

Critical Reception

Sébastien Laudenbach's "The Girl Without Hands" is a visually stunning and thematically rich adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Critically acclaimed for its unique artistic style and mature handling of dark themes, the film resonated with audiences who appreciated its powerful narrative and symbolic depth. It was particularly noted for its bold animation and its exploration of purity, resilience, and the consequences of temptation.

What Reviewers Say

  • Praised for its striking, hand-drawn animation style that lends a unique, ethereal quality to the fairy tale.

  • Lauded for its mature and unflinching exploration of dark themes like temptation, sacrifice, and resilience.

  • Appreciated for its faithful yet distinct interpretation of the classic Brothers Grimm story.

Google audience: Audiences overwhelmingly loved the film's beautiful and distinctive animation, finding it to be a refreshing and captivating visual experience. Many also appreciated the film's dark yet ultimately hopeful narrative and its strong portrayal of a determined protagonist.

Awards & Accolades

Awarded the Cristal for a Feature Film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (2016). Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the César Awards (2018).

Fun Fact

The film's distinctive visual style was achieved through a laborious process of hand-drawing and painting each frame, giving it a unique, almost woodcut-like aesthetic.

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