Kill It and Leave This Town

Kill It and Leave This Town (Polish: Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miasta) is a 2020 Polish adult animated psychological horror film directed by Polish animator Mariusz Wilczyński, in his feature film debut, from a script developed alongside Agnieszka Ścibior. The film concerns a hero, fleeing from despair after losing those dearest to him, who hides in a safe land of memories, where time stands still and all those dear to him are alive.

Kill It and Leave This Town
Film poster
Directed by	Mariusz Wilczyński
Written by	Mariusz Wilczyński
Produced by	Ewa Puszczyńska Agnieszka Ścibior
Starring	Krystyna Janda Andrzej Wajda Marek Kondrat Daniel Olbrychski
Edited by	Jarosław Barzan
Music by	Tadeusz Nalepa
Production company	Bombonierka
Release dates	22 February 2020 (2020-02-22) (Berlin) 5 March 2021 (2021-03-05)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	Poland
Language	Polish
Box office	$183,771[1]

Voice cast

• Krystyna Janda as Janek's mother
• Andrzej Chyra as Janek's father
• Maja Ostaszewska as Janek
• Barbara Krafftówna as Mariusz's mother (old)
• Anna Dymna as Mariusz's mother (young)
• Gustaw Holoubek as Mariusz's alter ego

Production

The film took fourteen years to animate. Wilczyński had originally intended Kill It and Leave This Town to be a short film, however eventually ended up deciding to make it his feature debut.^[2] The film was made for Wilczyński to symbolically say goodbye to his family who had died. At the film's premiere at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, Wilczyński said "In a short time, people who were important to me passed away. I did not have time to say goodbye to them, I do it with my animation." He also added; "I don't believe in death, they didn't die, but they live in my imagination."^[3]

Release

The film premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival on 22 February 2020, and was delayed from theatrical releases due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema. It was released in theatres in Poland on 5 March 2021, and grossed $183,771.

The film received generally positive reviews from critics,^[4][5] and received several accolades. Kill It and Leave This Town has an approval rating of 93% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews, and an average rating of 7.6/10.^[6] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 69 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[7]

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref(s)
Ottawa International Animation Festival	Best Feature	Mariusz Wilczyński	Won	[8]
Gdynia Film Festival	Golden Lions Awards		Won	[9]
Polish Film Awards	Best Film		Won	[10]
	Best Director		Nominated	[11]
	Best Screenplay		Won	[10]
	Best Production Design		Nominated	[11]
	Best Film Score	Tadeusz Nalepa	Won	[10]
	Best Sound	Franciszek Kozłowski	Won
	Discovery of the Year	Mariusz Wilczyński	Nominated	[11]
			Nominated
Viennale	Fipresci Prize		Won	[12]
Monstra Festival [pt]	Grande Prémio Monstra	Mariusz Wilczyński	Won	[13]