Well wishes my love, your love

9 MINUTES

A boy’s universe becomes strange and wondrous in this enchanting short

Well Wishes My Love, Your Love instantly pulls you into its universe. With scenes built of rippling lines and brilliant colours, the Malaysian artist Gabriel Gabriel Garble crafts an animation that’s strange and entrancing at every turn – and, unless you’re already familiar with his work, almost certainly unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The film’s somewhat enigmatic narrative follows the journey of a young boy who, in the wake of a tragedy, borrows a friend’s prosthetic arm, and, with it, seems to experience his surroundings anew.

The vivid, ever-fluctuating imagery and dreamy synth score evoke a psychedelic trip – the rapturous kind, in which one perceives a sort of unity with the natural environment around them. It’s a clichéd way to frame a mind-bending animation, but the heightened sensory experience it kindles makes the comparison all but unavoidable. Still, one needn’t have any interest in or experience with mind-altering chemicals to find wonder within Garble’s creation. This is experimental film at its best – a work of ceaseless, breathless creativity that absorbs the viewer while inviting them to reexamine their world.

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