I love when Wes really leans into the fakery. This sub-hour whirlwind packs pretty much every tool he has into its limited runtime. With everything we watch there’s an element of suspension of disbelief, and what Wes does so well in his films is he essentially races to break any semblance of believable façade as fast as possible. He just takes a stop-motion yellow-and-pink sledgehammer to that concept and allows us to see that it’s fake, acknowledge it, and move on with the story and format, now with a lighter tone and more breathing room to play with. Many filmmakers work within the ever-tightening boundaries of “will people believe this effect?” or “is this too cheesy?” Wes Anderson operates at a complete inverse. The cheese is the point, and you know he’ll pick the finest aged gruyère.
