‘Divine Consultants’ is truly something new and fresh for us, reason why we are really glad to have had the chance to watch it in our festival a while ago and now again for a second time. This short episode of a web series, if we are correct, is a graphic novel in motion that depicts the life of a young girl living in a wicked neighborhood. She’s looking for her friend, Hope, and in doing so she encounters different problems that are somehow hard to cope with, especially at her age.
The novel is said to be for kids and young adults, and you'll clearly understand why whilst watching it. The girl looking for Hope, as a fictional character here, is basically every adolescent looking for hope in their lives, following the dreams that are suitable for their age, and rebelling in front of the parental figures. The short animation is packed with subliminal messages that have a lot of sense to any young viewer out there. The method picked by Juha FIilin is therefore innovative and worth praising.
Coming back to the story, we’ve seen some very clever visual metaphors that are speaking more than words can do. For example, when Joy, the main character, is talking about her parents quarreling over different problems, the discourse isn’t announcing something per se, but the visual metaphor of her mother standing next to a pile of luggage shows the clear sign that she wants to divorce or leave her husband. Or when Joy dreams about going to Hope’s house, she passes near some houses where the neighbors are acting strange, and then, when she wakes up and goes to see Hope, she passes near the same oddly acting people.
‘Divine Consultants’ seems like a really good idea, a breath of fresh air for the animated genre. We expect Juha FIilin to continue on the road she started and are eager to see new episodes in our festival as soon as possible.
Written by Vlad A. G