The Elfkins – Baking a Difference

January 11, 2021

In animation, family film, Review, Theatrical, This Week by Dov KornitsLeave a Comment

“…a positively upbeat story with brisk pacing that bursts at the seams with enthusiasm.”
Patrick Scott
Year: 2019
Rating: G
Director: Ute von Munchow-Pohl
Distributor: Rialto
Released: January 14, 2021
Running Time: 78 minutes
Worth: $12.00

FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

“…a positively upbeat story with brisk pacing that bursts at the seams with enthusiasm.”

Based on a German fable, The Elfkins: Baking a Difference is a positively upbeat story with brisk pacing that bursts at the seams with enthusiasm.

The film deploys a familiar plot structure seen in many animated films before it. It follows a community of Elfkins that have lived in fear of the humans for 200 years, residing quietly in the dim and confined spaces of the underground.

When a young, adventure-seeking Elfkin girl named Elfie struggles to congeal with the insular customs of her community, she bravely ventures out into the human world to prove her worth to the rest of the Elfkins.

The animation of the movie is almost entirely soft and rounded, decorated with poppy primary colours that makes easy viewing for children. The characters, too, further this, with easily identifiable traits that casts a clear contrast between them. For example, the overly optimistic and energetic Elfkins stumble into a down-on-his-luck baker named Theo whose face carries despair and misery. His bakery has been forced to close on account of ‘Bruno’s’ – a giant cake factory, owned by his brother, that is located directly adjacent to him and has been stealing his business for years.

Alas, given the selling point of the movie is adventure, it really fails to generate much excitement. The plot ostensibly takes place over two settings, both of which are so visually basic and similar, it seldom matches or reflects an appropriate mood for its characters. For instance, the building of the cake factory ‘Bruno’s’ is touted as a towering corporate machine that strips the soul away from smaller businesses. Yet, for such a seemingly important characteristic for the plot, the building itself is just a flat pink wall that rarely features in the movie.

As the Elfkins and humans make unlikely allies, the movie shows the power of helping a person in need and not judging a book by its cover.

 

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