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A testament to the power of animation, there’s never been anything quite like Waltz with Bashir. It’s a documentary of sorts, following director Ari Folman as he attempts to piece together what happened to him during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, of which he has no recollection of. After talking to a friend about his post-war dreams ten years later, Folman has his own hallucinatory flashback that prompts him to interview those who were in the same places at the same time in hopes of remembering.

That in itself is a fascinating look into memory, but the choice to animate the proceedings and put it to Max Richter‘s haunting score provides for something so much more powerful. Capable of putting audiences in a trance state, the bold animation style turns the story into a brilliant, surreal exploration of war that perhaps only Terence Malick’s Thin Red Line has previously accomplished.

Waltz with Bashir opens in Minneapolis today at the Uptown Theatre.

Trailer