Chicken for Linda (Linda veut du poulet!) has all the right ingredients to become a memorable film. The kind that transcends its language and country of origin. Though, once tasted, one can’t help but think that the recipe was missing something. This fantastical movie centers around a loving single mother named Paulette. She lives alone with her spirited daughter named Linda. She is forced to raise her alone after her husband suddenly dies. She is also not on great terms with her sister. Yearning for the past and better times, Linda begs her mother to make her a simple dish of chicken and peppers. After feeling guilty for wrongly accusing Linda of stealing a ring, Paulette decides to make the meal for Linda. The only problem is the grocery workers are on strike, which means no chicken and no peppers. Her daughter seems heartbroken, and Paulette goes on a wild adventure to steal a chicken. Hijinks ensue when their plan quickly goes south.
Chicken for Linda is without a doubt the most whimsical and beautifully animated film that doesn’t have a webslinger in it. It’s hard not to be completely and utterly transported to a happy place when entering this bold colorful world. The first act is really lean and engaging with interesting and relatable characters and a fun premise: steal a chicken and make a meal for two. Sadly, the second and third acts needlessly complicate things.
There is also music, that again, doesn’t add anything to the affair. For example, Paulette has a mercifully short song about liking candy. Sure, the song does setup a plot point in the finale, but it’s poorly written and not that catchy. Elements such as this never add anything and only bloats an already short runtime. In all this madness that the finale descends into, it feels like the painfully beautiful story between mother and daughter gets lost. It’s not to say the film never hits any emotional beats. It does. It’s just that the movie never really lets itself breath and ruminate on its own emotionally charged first act.
By the end of the film, it’s difficult to tell who this movie’s intended audience is. On the surface, it feels like a kids’ movie that is also welcoming towards adults. As the film goes on, the tone and pacing feel more adult. Again, this speaks to a movie that has a lot of visual beauty and depth but tonally and narratively, is on the weaker side. What does work is how the movie authentically captures being a kid and having an adventure in the hazy dead of summer. Even though that can occasionally detract from the narrative, you cannot deny that there is an effortless charm of the antics the neighborhood rugrats get into.
Chicken for Linda feels a little like a bait-and-switch. What seemed like a heartwarming and emotionally beautiful tale quickly dissolves into a cavalcade of unfunny moments and dull side characters. You keep waiting for the mother-daughter pay-off that was nicely setup in the first act that just never comes. Still, the movie is surely stunning on a visual level. The heart and soul just needs to match the gorgeous aesthetics. Couple this with an awkward tone and pacing, and you get a charming but messy meal.
Chicken for Linda had its World Premiere in the ACID section of Cannes Film Festival 2023.
Directors: Sébastien Laudenbach, Chiara Malta
Writers: Sébastien Laudenbach, Chiara Malta
Rated: NR
Runtime: 73m
Chicken for Linda feels a little like a bait-and-switch. What seemed like a heartwarming and emotionally beautiful tale quickly dissolves into a cavalcade of unfunny moments and dull side characters.
Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.
