Worlds away from Rithy Panh’s more straightforward fictional narratives, this remarkably ambitious 2022 what’s-it could reasonably be described as an essay film on ideology and atrocity, if essay films were anchored in an animated Animal Farm–like dystopia ruled by grunting pigs. Mang Sarith’s intricately hand-crafted clay miniatures and dioramas hold the fictional world, where animals learn from human cruelty (and archival footage), while verbal and visual quotes from Chris Marker, Umberto Eco, Dziga Vertov, Mao, 2001, and more provide a summary of twentieth-century totalitarianism and a plea to “walk towards the truth.” Neither fiction nor documentary, but history lesson, archival footage masterclass, science fiction dystopia, and cine-poem in one.