Alienation and abortion: Heres why Takopis Original Sin and April must be in your watch listing

Whether you’re an outdated hand at arthouse or simply dipping a toe into the rising otaku subculture of anime aficionados world wide, this column lists curated titles that problem, consolation, and infrequently combust your expectations.

This week’s picks for Ctrl+Alt+Cinema couldn’t be extra completely different on the floor — one’s a six-episode anime a couple of pink alien octopus attempting to unfold pleasure, the opposite is a stark Georgian drama a couple of rural physician below scrutiny for her position in a botched supply — however each are crushing portraits of what occurs when the buildings meant to take care of individuals fail them.

From the drafting board

Takopi’s Original Sin sounds just like the form of present you’d count on to cheer you up after a protracted day. It’s acquired a smiling alien octopus from Happy Planet, right here to assist slightly woman with magical devices and good intentions. But earlier than the top of the primary episode, it’s fairly clear that this isn’t that form of story.

The present follows the titular tentacled alien, whose naivety and earnestness bump up in opposition to a world way more sophisticated than it will possibly afford to grasp. Shizuka, the woman he needs to assist, lives with a unhappiness that no gadget can erase, and Takopi is not going to cease at attempting to make her smile as soon as extra.

Streaming now on Crunchyroll and already breaking viewing data, Takopi is the shock anime triumph of 2025. Adapted from Taizan 5’s manga and helmed by Made in Abyss director Shinya Iino, this six-episode gem weaponises its cute camouflage, solely to peel it again in direction of one thing deeply, disturbingly human.

Like Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster (2023), Takopi explores the methods kids are formed and typically shattered by the alternatives of adults. Fans of Wonder Egg Priority, BoJack Horseman, and even Requiem for a Dream may even really feel proper at dwelling (or moderately, proper on edge). 

What makes Takopi exceptional is how deftly it binds character, type, and feeling. The attractive artwork shifts from childlike sketches and chiaroscuro dread, whereas the writing threads collectively a number of views right into a tightly wound gut-punch. If you’ve ever liked one thing like A Silent Voice, or discovered your self undone by the emotional honesty of Look Back, that is the anime to sit down with.

Foreign affairs

While most movies about abortion have a tendency to border the problem as a binary of selection and consequence, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April is after the emotional climate of feminine company below siege. It additionally begins with one of many creepiest, most unsettling opening pictures you’re prone to see this yr.

Currently streaming on MUBI, the movie follows Nina, an obstetrician-gynecologist in rural Georgia, who performs abortions in secret and who comes below malpractice investigation after a botched supply. Dea, whose 2020-film Beginning introduced her as a serious voice in Georgian cinema, now returns with better maturity and restraint. It’s a sluggish, unsettling portrait of a lady pushed to the perimeters and Dea’s route is exacting and spare.

What makes April particularly necessary proper now’s when and the place it arrived. The movie brazenly portrays abortion and the desperation of ladies in search of it, which is a rarity in Georgian cinema. Even although abortion remains to be authorized in Georgia, the movie has been inexplicably banned there, seemingly as a result of it dares to talk brazenly a couple of topic that the majorly orthodox inhabitants nonetheless needs to maintain hidden. It additionally comes at a time when reproductive rights are below a world siege, and sits with the load of what it means to be a lady attempting to make selections in a world that retains attempting to limit them.

If you appreciated the sluggish, painful revelations of Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always or the ethical complexity of Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and a pair of Days, April belongs in your listing. It’s not straightforward to look at, however on this second, few movies really feel extra mandatory.

Ctrl+Alt+Cinema is a fortnightly column that brings you handpicked gems from the boundless choices of world cinema and anime