Anomalisa

The tired and genuinely believing himself to be boring protagonist arrives at a conference in a foreign city. The world around him blends into an indistinct blur, even the people he encounters all speak (literally) with the same inexpressive male voice. But when he unexpectedly becomes able to hear the voice of a woman named Lisa, it becomes a true miracle, a genuine anomaly.

It is important to understand that «Anomalisa» is a stop-motion animation, which strangely adds to its realism, as who better than puppets can portray repressed, constrained, and touchingly awkward individuals? Advertisers have called «Anomalisa» «surrealistic neorealism,» and I think this is a wonderful genre definition for Kaufman's work in general. He is that rare screenwriter whose involvement in a film speaks almost as loudly as the director's name. Kaufman is certain: the only way to be interesting is to talk about the one thing you truly know well, which is yourself. Even (and especially!) if you are an aging and uninteresting misanthrope.

And there is also a scene of intimacy in the film, and although it is stop-motion animation, it is the most truthful love scene we have ever seen.