Such a strange, unpredictable book. A glance at the front cover and you expect a Wind-in-the-Willow-esque fairytale with gorgeous nature drawings and heart-warming stories in dreamy landscapes. But flip the cover and you will automatically doubt these expectations. Beautiful Darkness is like a strange mix of Svankmajer’s Alice and Dogville, a grim allegory about nature, continuously disappointing in its (our!) shortcomings and weaknesses, and about survival, starting anew, imagining new ways.

I wake up everyday, like most people (I imagine), with a vague sense of dread, a latent awareness of the precariousness and uncertainty of our times, as well as the inevitable damage we did to nature. Oh, the pre-apocalyptic energy in the air (Smiling Face With Open Mouth & Cold Sweat Emoji)! Reading this book, I felt a strange, unexpected resilience.