Poor Aimy (Allisyn Ashley Arm) is a creative teenage girl and is one of unrelenting opinions, who loves to express herself through paintings and her own unique style of dress. She is a free spirit and sees the world differently to those around her. As she refuses to conform to the will of her over bearing Grandma Micry (Terry Moore), she is forced into taking a barbaric medical procedure called the Wolworth Surgery.

 

With Aimy stupefied and being chained like a wild beast, the whole world starts going to rat shit and the family are forced to remain inside their apartment under quarantine.

 

With a running time totalling a mere 79 minutes, Aimy in a Cage is one mother of a film. It contains enough Technicolor crazy to send even the most luminescent human being on a never-ending trip down the rabbit hole.

 

The film is wholly set in an apartment, which was seemingly home to a cast of thousands. Whilst watching I had this overwhelming sense that they were living in a dolls house but a very retro messed up dolls house. It was very strange. In fact, the whole film was very strange but utterly engaging. We follow the path of Aimy through the chapters in her life. This is exemplified by the brightness and joie de vie but as she becomes more repressed and forced to conform, you can see the life being sucked out of her and it is very sad (Even amongst all the shouting)

 

The creative team behind the set designs and costumes are extroverted in their approach as they very fantastical and Burtonesque. But it appeared that even they didn’t follow one single genre, as it seemed to draw in on as many different concepts and throw it all into the mix. The head contraption that Aimy wore following her surgery was a blend of Terry Gilliam, SAW and Steam Punk. Loved it.

 

Arm is absolutely outstanding in the film and any trace of Disney disappeared with every shout, scream and explosive outburst. She is greatly supported by an equally amazing and diverse group of people. Terry Moore, a sex serine from the 1940’s is absolutely still rocking it. She is 86 years of age and still possesses a terrific amount of stamina and tenacity that with her character having a toy boy in the form of Claude Bohringer (Crispin Glover) becomes highly possible.

 

The pimped up Glover is hilarious. He is dressed very over the top and I particularly appreciated the cheap looking gold rings on his fingers. It only added to the shallowness of his character. Aimy in a Cage epitomises society by the way in which we alienate those who are expressive and don’t comply with mediocrity.

 

If Tim Burton read the dulux colour chart instead of the 50 shades of grey, then you'd be somewhat there in imagining the marvellous and bonkers world of 'Aimy In A Cage'. Everything about this film is alive with unreserved boundaries. Even the funding of the film is unconventional. The Director, who has a most fabulous name, Hooroo Jackson, funded this film by cashing out his Bit Coins?? Imagine the style and feel of an ‘Action Painting’; well this is what it is in film form with its interjections of the splashes of paint, random snippets of old cartoons or quirky news reports of impending doom. The music is equally perfect. I wouldn’t know how to categorise it but Aimy in a Cage is a must see. It is a major trip and one that will mess with your head. 'Aimy In A Cage' is simply stunning.