The Breadwinner

Children must grow up fast under such circumstances, and The Breadwinner derives its lasting sense of tragedy from its consideration of how they've been stripped of their childhood. There's a sad undercurrent to Parvana's fairy tale.

Distressing as it is, the film draws you into the characters' lives.

The animation is expressive, as lush and detailed as tapestry. Harsh landscapes shimmer with beauty, even when littered with the bones of landmines and abandoned tanks.

The film is honest enough not to exaggerate the beneficial results of Parvana's courageous act.

On the heels of Ann Marie Fleming's joyful animated indie Window Horses comes Nora Twomey's thematically similar but far darker The Breadwinner.

The Breadwinner is a well-crafted and inspiring story with an important message about female empowerment, embodied in heroic Parvana, something people of all ages should embrace.

Harkening from Cartoon Saloon's earlier pursuits, Breadwinner continues the classic motif about the connective powers of storytelling.

In particular, the film celebrates the stories we tell ourselves and each other - the stories that educate, encourage and inspire.

The biggest criticism of The Breadwinner for me is not one of the film itself, which is undoubtedly a triumph of storytelling, but simply that I'm not sure exactly who it intends to tell the story to.

These excursions are exhilarating for their freedom, but also fraught with danger.

Parvana copes by telling fables of wild animals and quests-these sections are dense and vivid, paper cutouts on layered backgrounds, providing cathartic levity in a very serious movie.

A dance between exhilarating escapades and unthinkable brutality, which though largely confined to offscreen spaces nonetheless lurks over the movie like a dark cloud.