What matters more: that something *is* real or that it *feels* real? If we’re talking about art or a prosthetic, then the recreation may provide the satisfaction desired. Possessing mere artifice may be all that’s needed in order to achieve a sort of personal peace. French philosopher Michel Foucault believed that harnessing the idea of something was far more important than its authenticity. By contrast, there’s an argument made by German philosopher Walter Benjamin that the reproduction of something diminishes its legitimacy, that only the real item possesses validity. In a modern context, the Wachowski Sisters, via Joe Pantoliano’s traitorous Cypher in The Matrix (1999), inform us that what our brain perceives as reality preserves our ignorance. Diving into the well-worn waters of philosophical debate regarding the concept of authenticity and the ability to maintain one’s freedom in a capitalistic system that uplifts consumers and casts out nonparticipants is filmmaker Alberto Vázquez’s latest animated feature, the manic Decorado. As in his Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (2015) and Unicorn Wars (2022), Vázquez seeks to remove the veil of corporate greed from an unaware populace via a bittersweet tale in which freedom is death and happiness is consumption.
L-R: María voiced by Aintzane Gamiz and Arnold voiced by Asier Hormaza in DECORADO. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 María y Arnold A.I.E., Abano Producións, Uniko Estudio Creativo, Glow Animation, Sardinha Em Lata.
In the isolated town of Anywhere, Arnold (voiced by Asier Hormaza) has started noticing odd occurrences around town. At first, he could ignore it all as part of the reason he was on his daily happy pill medication produced by town company ALMA, but when an odd altercation occurs with the star of his favorite program from childhood, Duck Roni (voiced by Vázquez), he suddenly starts to notice inconsistencies everywhere. What he doesn’t notice is that his wife, María (voiced by Aintzane Gamiz), is struggling under the weight of being the sole earner in their household, the burden of which is taking a toll on her animation projects. As tragedy mounts and absurdity grows, Arnold must make a choice between discovering if his rising doubts about reality are true and saving his marriage.
Just like Birdboy and Unicorn Wars before it, Decorado is a feature-length version of the 2016 short Scenery. If you’ve seen that, then this tale will likely be somewhat familiar, even if elongated.
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
– George Orwell, 1984
Co-written with F. Xavier Manuel (Furbots), Vázquez’s Decorado is going to look, on the outset, familiar to audiences who’ve seen Birdboy or Unicorn Wars. This film, like those, utilizes a mixture of animation styles (watercolor and hand drawn, in appearance) and anthropomorphic characters inhabiting the tale within a wildness vs. modernity habitat. This is where the similarities end as, like with the two films before it, Decorado delves into specific ideas of control and personal freedom that are markedly unique to each other. Here, the battle is between capitalism and the self wherein even ethereal notions of death and destiny and mythological creatures, like mermaids and demons, are bound to the pursuit of profit and consumption. Going further, where the previous stories played internally with what’s real and not (Birdboy flies and battles a manifestation of his depression; Azulin’s quest for power causes him to see villains that don’t exist), Decorado tells us from the outset. As the opening scenes in Unicorn Wars establish the battle between bear and unicorn, setting the stage for the bloodshed to come, Vázquez and Manuel open with a curtain opening on Anywhere, a montage set to classical music (swelling as the intro goes on) that introduces us to various characters within the city and the surrounding forest. That curtain signifies to us that we’re watching a show — a purposeful and specific decoration that frames everything that happens from that moment forward. This makes the terrible journey that Arnold goes through as he searches for work (and is routinely rejected), as he bears witness to cruelty committed by his neighbors, and the shame heaped upon others merely for being poor, little more than a show for our amusement. What is it that the filmmakers seek to say about our own reactions to what we observe? What does it mean when we laugh at cruel irony or karmic comeuppance? What do we lose in the exchange that occurs between us, the audience, and them, the filmmakers? These are questions we should be thinking of as Arnold spirals into paranoia as more and more odd occurrences begin to suggest that what is real and what feels real are in opposition, requiring recalibration.
“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
– C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
What’s uniquely fascinating about Decorado is how it trades on expectation. Arnold is a mouse (as is María and best friend Ramiro (voiced by Ander Vildósola)); he’s friends with Chicken Crazy (voiced by Raúl Dans Mayor) who is — yep — a chicken; his old boss, Gregorio (voiced by Iñaki Berartxe), is a rat; and a door-to-door ALMA sales rep is Mr. Mushroom (voiced by Iker Bengoetxea), that is, as presumed, a mushroom. Like most of Birdboy and all of Unicorn Wars, all the characters are animals doing things that animals do just with human-like qualities and desires. Thus, when Arnold talks about his favorite cartoon and its star, Duck Roni, one doesn’t think twice about the Looney Tunes-esque situations and sound effects we observe in the short clip we watch as Arnold does. Why would we? This world is a fiction, a construction of imagination from the storytellers; except we should be thinking about it, especially when Arnold meets his hero as an older individual. When did cartoons feature aging characters? Is Duck Roni meant to represent a Daffy Duck-like figure who’s fallen from grace, which would cause the audience to consider what it is that Daffy goes through for our entertainment. Or is this a deception trading on what the audience (us) knows of cartoons, which sets an expectation of loose rules, violence without real consequence, and adjustable reality? In the case of the latter, it’s as though the writers are once more challenging the audience to mediate on what it is they like about cartoons and what it says about the way we digest our entertainment as the creation of cartoons inevitability means that someone is getting hit with an anvil or worse. From a certain perspective, cartoons are a cruel cycle of violence in which only the insane can survive and, if the world of Decorado is confined by curtains, what does it say about those within its borders?
“Don’t fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating.”
– First ‘Black Maria’ Guard in Brazil (1985)
If there’s a semi-modern equivalent to the baseline concept of Decorado, it’s The Truman Show (1998). The audience is on a journey with the lead character to discover the truth of their reality. Now, whether or not Arnold and Anywhere are real isn’t as important to the narrative as it is for Truman (Jim Carrey). In truth, it’s clearly not the question that the filmmakers want us spending too much time on either — a presumption based on the framework of the film. Rather, Vázquez and Manuel structure the events of the film to have the audience questioning everything else, not for validity, but for what’s analogous in our world. One doesn’t need to wonder what the fairy that comes to visit María represents (its name is Depression (voiced by Aintzane Crujeiras)), but one should think about what it means that ALMA is the lone company in town and its operator has influence everywhere. One should think about why neighbors seem to be spying on neighbors, why one’s status is viewed as higher or lower if they have a job, and why it is that living in nature is considered an acceptance of failure (and as an area forbidden to all). This all makes the question of whether or not Arnold is, essentially, living in a simulation or construct, less important than what it says about our own modern living. Do we not judge those based on their occupation or lack thereof? Do we not find ways to punish the homeless instead of widening proven projects to uplift out of poverty? Do we not give up our privacy regularly in order to consume content? Note the language of creation — music, painting, film, and more. It’s all content now. It’s disposable and brought to you by Special Sponsor (buy their product). It’s gotten to the point where everything you do is monitored, commodified, and sold, making us all little more than cogs of a machine built only to sustain the system of commerce. Any attempt to defy the system, to declare workers’ rights or personal privacy or equity for all is viewed as a mental break. Are we so different from Arnold? What choices do we make fully aware of our position? How can we judge the lengths he may go to find his truth, the real truth, while we ask our A.I. assistants to play songs, construct emails, and conceive of a narrative built just for me? Being aware of the truth and doing something about it are different beats entirely.
L-R: Mr. Mushroom voiced by Iker Bengoetxea and Arnold voiced by Asier Hormaza in DECORADO. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 María y Arnold A.I.E., Abano Producións, Uniko Estudio Creativo, Glow Animation, Sardinha Em Lata.
Side Note: People who use generative A.I. for creative purposes can get fucked. It’s a plagiarism machine and, if you use it, you’re not only destroying precious resources that humans require, you’re stealing someone else’s intellectual property that was illegally acquired by the LLM to build their dataset.
“There’s no war in Ba Sing Se.”
– Dai Lee soldier in “City of Walls and Secrets” from Avatar: The Last Airbender
Reality is what we make of it. The things that we give value to make the things in our lives real and provide meaning. The struggle is often the creation of meaning in a world that’s turned entirely consumptive. If what you *do* doesn’t create monetary value, then it’s deemed less-than compared to anything else. Someone isn’t even deemed a professional unless they’re getting paid for something, even if the thing being done brings an individual joy. This isn’t an argument for the notion that “doing what you love means you never work,” because that idiom is outdated bullshit as work is work, regardless of how much delight it brings and balance is necessary. It’s necessary to ensure that one doesn’t lose the bonds with their loved ones, to maintain their individual center, and to not fall adrift into the seductive stream of dopamine brought about by consuming for the sake of consuming. When we give others permission to construct our reality, that’s when we really lose. But would we ever know it if we didn’t stop once in awhile and consider who’s providing the scripts, who’s instructing the characters, and whose hand is on the curtain rod? Disquieting and poignant amid beautifully grotesque scenes, Decorado ponders the risk of questioning one’s reality and the reward of truth.
For an alternate review, head over to Meet Me at the Movies for a video review.
In theaters May 15th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official GKIDS Films Decorado webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
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