‘Decorado’ Review — The Animated Horrors Of Derealization
Co-writer and director Alberto Vazquez’s last film, Unicorn Wars, capitalized on the horrors of war between majestic mythical animals and adorable stuffed animals. The film not only showcased nudity and a ton of blood and gore, but was also terrifying in the hell that resulted in the aftermath of relentless warfare between unicorns and teddy bears.
Based on Vazquez’s short of the same name from 2016, Decorado is the story of Mouse Arnold, who is convinced that the town of Anywhere, where he resides, is actually a movie set. Arnold is middle-aged and hasn’t had a job in years. His wife is struggling to pay the bills with her job as a cartoonist, as they risk losing their house.
Arnold relies on pills to try to battle his depression while his wife is currently being pursued by another man, the CEO of ALMA (Almighty Limitless Megacorporative Agency), which is a company that is slowly but surely taking over everything in town.
Along with his best friend Ramiro, a ghost who died recently after being consumed by a giant owl, Arnold chooses to prove his suspicions that the reality he’s living in is not real, while his wife contemplates leaving him for good.
Decorado swaps the in-your-face gore of Unicorn Wars for a more paranoid derealization kind of atmosphere. The film remains incredibly dark and adult, but the focus is consistently on questioning the intent of everyone around Arnold, as well as whether he has lost his grip on reality.
Vazquez’s art style is deceptively cutesy, contrasting with the mature themes and dialogue of his films. It’s intriguing because an animated filmmaker like Ralph Bakshi teetered on a more realistic style, even with Fritz the Cat, and often incorporated rotoscoping in his films, which is an animation style that relies on tracing over actual film footage.
Meanwhile, Genndy Tartakovsky transitioned to more adult-oriented projects, such as the last season of Samurai Jack, Primal, and Fixed, while starting with more kid-friendly shows like Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls. Tartakovsky is a rare instance where he has been successful for all ages, as he was also heavily involved with and directed the majority of the Hotel Transylvania franchise.
Vazquez’s films could be considered misleading, especially if a parent has only seen the movie poster or a calmer moment from a trailer. Unicorn Wars is like Apocalypse Now, and Decorado is a PG-13 and darker version of The Truman Show.
While Decorado softens sexual content and maintains subtle substance abuse and mild vulgarity, its true menace comes from the giant owl that violently abducts and devours townsfolk.
The only disappointing aspect of the film is that it’s somewhat predictable. Even if you haven’t seen the short film that inspired the full-length feature, Decorado goes in the direction you’re expecting because it’s basically given away in the film’s title. However, reaching that point is where Alberto Vazquez and co-writer F. Xavier Manuel truly capitalize on mesmerizing storytelling.
The ups and downs of Decorado are all connected to ALMA and the way a greedy corporation is taking over Anywhere, and essentially, everything that lies beyond is terrifying and relatable to the modern world.
Arnold undergoes a midlife crisis: he loses everything, regains it all, then ends up worse off. His friends die or sell out, his wife leaves and returns, and he lands a job only to realize it was all for nothing. The overall theme of Decorado is that Arnold is just a spoke in the ALMA wheel — if he breaks, the wheel keeps turning.
Even if Arnold succeeds in convincing people that everything in Anywhere isn’t real, that wheel keeps turning. That is the most horrific part about Decorado. By the end of the film, everyone is on the same page, but they’re giving in to something they can’t fight because they’ll never win.
Decorado has a dark sense of humor that is laugh-out-loud funny at times; the mermaid gag and the birdsong, which are actually phone alarms and notification sounds, are hilarious. But the film is also unsettling in a realistic sense. Not so much reality being a total farce, but in the sense that a giant corporation controls every aspect of our lives.
Decorado is a beautifully animated, reality-altering nightmare that is both depressing and enchanting.
NEXT: Fantastic Fest 2025 ‘Primate’ Review — Monkeying Around With The Horror Basics
Decorado (2025), Barton Fims
PROS
- Gorgeous animation.
- Fantastic storytelling.
- As funny as it is haunting.
CONS
- Its one flaw is that you know where the story is headed.
