It’s not often that I get downright giddy over the artistry and character of contemporary films, but French Director and Writer Jean-Pierre Jeunet elicited just that with his newest film, Micmacs. Jeunet is most well-known for his work on the indie classic, Amélie, but another one of his flicks, Delicatessen, also gained considerable (and well deserved) notoriety too.

While Jeunet’s films are not explicitly circus-centric, he weaves circus aesthetics and motifs into his stories in a visually stunning and delightful way. The protagonist in Delicatessen, for example, is a saw-playing clown. Micmacs continues down this road, featuring contortionists, human cannonballs, street performers and even freakshow-esque collections of human body parts, but the setting for this tale is anything but the big top. In fact, this misfit klan lives in a junk yard of sorts, crafting trash art and plotting revenge against an international weapons manufacturer. It’s both dark and lighthearted, with a healthy dose of social commentary running through it all. If I haven’t sold you on the film yet, try this on for size:

Head to the Netflix queue, folks! You won’t regret it.

Tags: clown, contortion, film festival, geek, human cannonball, street performance, trash art