30 Animated Movies That Are Not for Children

Writer-director Patrice Leconte’s adaptation of Jean Teule's novel The Suicide Shop adds an extra dimension to the book’s black comedy with two major changes: it’s animated, and it’s a musical.

In a French city where everyone suffers chronic depression and suicide rates are high, The Suicide Shop introduces us to the Tuvaches, a family who run the titular shop, where customers can find everything they require (including advice!) for their end-of-the-line needs. The natural trajectory of a population under capitalism living on a dying planet, and the natural endpoint of consumerism, we might think. But there is something like a light at the end of the tunnel in the family’s third child, Alan, who is a tonic to the world’s ills, bearing an unabashed happiness in everything he does, which comes into conflict with the rest of the family, their customers, and their business.

The film’s visual style captures the grime of city living and is unafraid of showing all the sharp edges, but also harkens back to our childhood Saturday morning shows. And it is in this juxtaposition of bleak subject matter with cartoonish 2D animation and musical numbers that The Suicide Shop finds its magic and proves far more than its somewhat disturbing premise.