As a dismembered hand journeys across Paris to find its owner it remembers its bodies childhood as well as the immediate events leading to it being severed. 

I Lost My Body is a surreal but oddly uplifting French animation. There are two converging storylines. The difficult and perilous journey across Paris for the dismembered hand and the hands owner Naoufel (voiced by Dev Patel in the English dub) attempts at romancing a woman called Gabrielle (Alia Shawkat) in the weeks immediately prior to an accident. We also see snippets of Naoufel as a child. 

The story is a sad one. Naoufel lost his parents in a car accident as a young boy in Morocco and had to move to relatives in Paris. As a child he made recordings of different events and sounds and it is through these that we get to see why he believes that fate has locked him into a course of disappointment. As the story unfolds the question asked is whether he can make a leap of faith and take control of his own destiny. 

The film feels lyrical and sad throughout thanks to it’s beautiful animation style and expressive musical score from Dan Levy, whilst Dev Patel’s dub seems to fit beautifully to the character. The final moments provide some hope that despite what life can throw at you things can get better. 

Give this a chance and it will work it’s way into your soul.