I'm sure to have nightmares tonight. Now that I think about it, I've been having them all week, but this time they'll be cinematically induced, and that's saying something for Jean-Pierre Jeuneut and Marc Caro's THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN. Right from the git go this is one of those rare films that completely engulfs you in its own constructed world. 

It opens with a parade of Santa's from Hell - an artificial nightmare stolen by a nasty scientist (Emilfork). Poor chap, he's unable to dream. So he goes about rounding up children, enabling him to invade their dreams. The childlike circus strongman, One (Perlman), loses his adopted Little Brother to the scientist and with the help of a little girl, Miettre, he sets out to rescue the child. Pretty simple plot, and as I've said of other films, that paves the way for greater stylistic, character, and thematic development.

LOST CHILDREN was given an "R" rating here - restricted audience, no kiddies.  Ironically, though, it comes closer to expressing the dark side of childhood than anything I've seen before. Even if you're lucky to have a relatively easy time of it, growing up is scary. Yes, childhood is a time of revelation and wonder, but it's also quite terrifying.  Jeunet and Caro are well aware of this, choosing their themes and symbols well and then twisting them to our dismay. Evil Santa Clauses, abandoned teddy bears, circus freaks. And, of course, what is more terrifying to a child than being lost?

There are two categories of lost children in this film. There are those who have been taken by the scientist. And then there are the thieving orphans who work for a much more sinister version of Oliver Twist's Fagin, a pair of deadly, freakish Siamese twin sisters.  These mini criminals have their own social code and are suspicious of all grown ups. In their cynical blank stares, they have already been lost to adulthood. The world weary but not-quite-lost Miettre has a great comeback for these little grown-ups: "You're not so little." Ouch.

The production values for this film are astounding, picking up where David Lynch's DUNE left off and elevating it to the next level. It's the Industrial Age gone wrong - underwater, on fire, from the viewpoint of a fly. And then there are the Lynch-like images - brains floating in fish tanks, Siamese twins cooking with four hands, midgets with big hair. 

Yet for all its nightmarish, freakish imagery, LOST CHILDREN has quite a bit of humor. The scientist is aided by a group of bumbling clones, sort of a fu turistic Four Stooges. And then there is an amazing domino-effect sequence that must be seen to be believed.

It would've been easy for this film to just rely on shock value and set production. It could have rested on its laurels and just been bizarre for the sake of being bizarre. But there's something about LOST CHILDREN that hits a nerve and taps into that time of life when everything is new and terrifying. You come out at the end feeling like an adult looking back at the first few years of life. Sheesh, I survived that? Just like childhood, it is a thrilling, fun, scary ass ride. Oh, and, will you please leave the light on while I sleep tonight?