The animation of Chicken for Linda! needs a big screen and emotional processing space

When I first read the title I was under the impression that Chicken for Linda! was about a little girl who really wanted a chicken as a pet. I was wrong. The French animated film from directors Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach is set in modern France and follows a little girl named Linda who Real want to to eat chicken. Specifically chicken with peppers. For Linda’s mother, Paulette, who mainly serves frozen meals and doesn’t really cook at all, making this dish is already a challenge.

And thanks to an ongoing general strike in their city, all supermarkets are closed, making this quest even more difficult. But Paulette feels very guilty for wrongfully punishing Linda for stealing a precious ring, so she goes to a farm to buy a live chicken. This begins Linda and Paulette’s arduous quest to kill, cook and eat this chicken, something neither of them has ever done before.

It’s much less morbid than it sounds. It is actually unexpectedly funny, but at the same time a bittersweet reflection on sadness and memory.

Linda approaches her mission with a clear-eyed determination that softens the hearts of authority figures and convinces a slew of inexperienced people to take a stab at killing and cooking the chicken. Ultimately, we just learn Why Linda is fixated on this particular chicken and pepper meal: it’s something her late father, whom she can barely remember, used to cook.

All the characters in the film come to life in blocks of one color, depicted with clear outlines. There’s a nice tactility to the way they move: the cat functions like one big blob, except when it extends its paws. The police officer twists his long limbs around a hanging telephone cord. From a distance, the chickens are pops of color and a curly outline shooting across the screen. Against the painted background, each frame is vibrant and dynamic.

Chicken for Linda! is packed with jokes, with lots of physical humor and hilarious situations that arise from the absurd nature of the plot. A cop points a gun at the chicken because that’s the only way he knows how to possibly kill it. After stealing the chicken, Linda and her mother jump into the back of a vegetable truck and hide among the crates of watermelons. There are moments where the film hangs, long chase scenes that become a bit at abstract and a handful of musical sequences that feel like they’re from another movie entirely. But even among the pranks and the loftier animated sequences, the film is anchored in Linda and her longing for the coveted meal, her desire to connect with her father.

Image: Gebeka Films/GKIDS via Everett Collection

That family dynamic, the element that makes this otherwise light-hearted film carries its weight, isn’t saved for an emotional punch at the end of the story, or turned into a nagging reminder constantly brought up by characters. Instead, it’s just there in the background of the film, seamlessly woven into every thread as we learn more about Linda, her mother, their relationship to each other, and how they relate to the rest of the characters we meet.

Linda’s grief and her inability to even really register it eventually builds to a cathartic point, but it’s not a heavy-handed emotional release. It’s a more subtle revelation, as she gets a chance to remember important details about her father. And through the process of seeking this moment together, Linda and her mother are finally able to connect and open up to their community, who all came together to help them eat this damn chicken. The film is the perfect mix of silliness and serious, deep emotion that is never overdone, all told in bright, painted colors that deserve to be seen in theaters to experience their full glory.

Chicken for Linda! can be seen in selected theaters from April 5.