Argentine studio Crudo Films dropped its first trailer online Monday (March 1) for its upcoming animated feature Lava. For fans of adult animation who are not very interested in Disney princesses and cute sidekick characters, this movie looks like it has plenty of violence, death and mayhem to go around.
The sci-fi dark comedy follows a lonely tattoo artist named Débora (Janeane Garofalo) who finds herself facing the end of the world one evening when hanging out with her friends. As they are watching an episode of “Gain of Clones,” the TV signal is interrupted, and everyone is brainwashed by subliminal messages being broadcast through the airwaves by an alien race who have hijacked Earth’s technology.
Set on invading the world disguised as gigantic, Godzilla-sized felines, snakes and witches, the aliens attack Débora and her friends as they try to figure out a way to avoid being hypnotized and save the planet from total annihilation.
How far the film takes the message that society is on their cell phones, tablets and laptops way too much these days is anyone’s guess, but during the trailer, swiping right might just cost you your life.
“Wait, don’t look at your phone!” Débora screams out at a stranger who seems transfixed by his iPhone while standing in the middle of the street. The man soon meets his demise when he is run over by a speeding car.
Garofalo, who leads the cast, has a lot of experience in the animation industry. In 2007, she lent her voice to Colette, a chef working in a French restaurant, in the Oscar-winning film Ratatouille. She has also starred as herself in the English version of Hayao Miyazaki’s 1989 classic Kiki’s Delivery Service, BoJack Horseman, and in two episodes of The Simpsons, just to name a few.