Consuming Spirits

“Consuming Spirits,” an animated feature by Chris Sullivan, is a defiant exception to the rules and patterns of contemporary cartoon entertainment. At a time when animation is expected to be computer-generated, three-dimensional and relentlessly upbeat, Mr. Sullivan’s film is flat, handmade and melancholy, a dark and anguished fantasy for grown-up’s. This achingly sad, story of family secrets, sexual longings and small-town malaise, is told through drawings, paper cutouts and miniature models. The blend of narrative quasi-realism and wild, somber visual invention in the film is entirely original. You’ve never seen anything like it.