Berlin Review: Papaya is a colorful, musical vibe with a message

One of my favorite animated movies from last year was Dandelion's Odyssey, a sci-fi adventure following a group of dandelion seeds in search of new places to plant themselves in the vast expanse of space. Now, here I am once again falling in love with a wordless movie about a seed, albeit one that couldn't be more different from Dandelion's Odyssey if it tried.

Priscilla Kellen's Papaya, playing in the Generation Kplus section at Berlin this year, is a colorful symphony of a movie that traces the grand journey of a humble papaya seed who isn't quite ready to put down his roots. He has his eye on the sky, wanting to join the various flying creatures and objects that seem so free, so happy, so untethered. Obviously, the heavens aren't generally the playground of a seed (at least not for any meaningful stretch of time), but that doesn't stop our plucky hero from giving it all he's got.

From the jump, this movie is such a vibe. It's an absolute explosion of color, and never repeats itself on that front. It's constantly finding new combinations, new tones, new color stories to tell to set its various scenes and to hit different pitches of energy. The aesthetic has a very crafty vibe, with a lot of the flora looking like it was cut out by a pair of kids' scissors, with the shapes a little wonky, a bit chunky, not many smooth lines or clean shapes to be found. There's so much personality everywhere you look, layers and layers of colors and textures, even the occasional pop of actual agricultural photography to connect the storybook illustration world to the resonant real-world environmental themes Papaya wants to drive home. We also get a bit psychedelic at a few points, with these kaleidoscopic underground networks dotted with globes of light and laced with transfixing repeated imagery. Far out. 

Just as infectious as the visuals is the film's score, from composer Talita del Collado. This is an easy early frontrunner for score of the year, and I'll honestly be surprised if many come close to it by the time I start thinking about 2026 superlatives. In a movie that's dialogue free (save a couple moments of "papaya" being chanted), the music has to do a lot of heavy lifting. Here, every melody is so perfectly buoyant, energetic, ecstatic. It's bop after bop after bop, using so many different instruments to strong effect, creating different moods as the little seed leaves lush paradise behind to discover another, much more dire way of life.

Based on Papaya's early scenes, I thought this might just be a lightweight kick-back of a movie, watching the seed trying on different ways of life, dressing up like a ladybug, hopping a ride on a dandelion seed (Dandelion's Odyssey crossover confirmed), bada bing bada boom. But the seed's relentless curiosity and wanderlust lead him out of the jungle and right into the heart of agricultural industry, where he sees the plight of so many seeds: being planted in neat rows, harvested by massive machines, and processed in state-of-the-art factories. It basically feels like Okja but for plants.

Which, obviously this movie isn't trying to tell you not to eat fruits and vegetables (although that would be a wild thesis statement for a movie). Instead, it feels like a plea to think about where our food comes from, how it's produced and delivered to us, and the toll this sort of large-scale corporate faming has on the environment. Technological innovation means we can eat anything any time of year, regardless of if it's in season. And that's not a good thing! And that kind of messaging has never been packaged in such an easily digestible, attractive package as it is here.

(There's also an argument for a trans reading of this movie, which I won't get into too deeply here so as not to spoil anything, but I found sweet and compelling.)

After a long, busy, stressful week at work, this was such a perfect movie to put on. Even with its urgent environmental message, this doesn't feel heavy or didactic. Instead, it feels like a celebration of what the world is, and what it can be, popping with bountiful colors and beautiful music. 

Papaya plays at Berlin on Sunday, February 15 at 10:00am, with more showings to follow. More info here.