The Electricity of Love: Review of The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)

Ifeanacho MaryAnn
7 min readDec 31, 2021
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) Poster

Synopsis

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) follows the life, the relationship, and the creative rise, fall, and ‘re-rise’ of the animator Louis Wain. On the surface, the movie seems like an endless cycle of unfortunate events, dotted with way too many cats and cat pictures. However, this movie explores the subtleties of creativity, love, grief, and mental health issues.

Analysis

Louis Wain and Emily Richardson-Wain

While I believe the 20th century to be the golden age of cinematography, every so often a modern movie surprises me. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) is one such movie. I cried at many points in this movie. Humanity has a way of redeeming itself at every turn and Louis Wain is the poster child for this redemption. Though he was not a (financial) success, Louis succeeded in a way most conventionally successful people never do. He left a legacy that outlived his failures and his life. The principal theme of this movie is how all of life is electricity. It is what births ideas in our brains and what crackles in your blood when you fall in love. It is what short circuits our brains and liquefies our pain when we…

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Ifeanacho MaryAnn
Ifeanacho MaryAnn

Written by Ifeanacho MaryAnn

Storyteller, Long Distance Cat Mom. A quiet voice rambling in an isolated corner of the internet. I write on psychology, films, books and my random thoughts

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