The Girl Without Hands

The Girl Without Hands

Year: 2017

Runtime: 76 min

Language: French

Director: Sébastien Laudenbach

Echo Score: 74
Animation

A desperate miller makes a deal, sacrificing his daughter’s well-being for a chance at wealth. She then discovers she has no hands and must face the darkness that resulted from her father's bargain and his selfish actions. The film is a haunting animated tale exploring themes of desperation, consequence, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

The Girl Without Hands (2017) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at The Girl Without Hands (2017) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In a dimly lit world where the clang of gears and the whisper of wind through wheat fields blend into a haunting lullaby, a solitary miller clings to the edge of desperation. His modest life, anchored to an ancient stone mill that has turned its wheels for generations, feels the weight of scarcity so heavy that he entertains a promise of untold wealth, a bargain whispered by a shadowed presence that promises to change his fate. The atmosphere is steeped in quiet dread, rendered in muted colors and fluid animation that make every creak of timber feel like a heartbeat echoing through the darkness.

From this precarious foundation emerges his daughter, a bright‑eyed child whose innocence is as fragile as the first frost on the fields. When the miller’s pact demands an impossible price, she awakens to a world where her hands—the tools that once shaped dough, plucked fruit, and brushed away tears—are gone. The loss is both literal and symbolic, turning everyday chores into gestures of yearning and casting her into a landscape where the ordinary becomes a series of obstacles to be navigated with spirit rather than flesh. The film’s tone balances stark melancholy with an undercurrent of resilient hope, each frame painted with the soft glow of an otherworldly light that suggests that even in loss, something beautiful may yet grow.

As she steps beyond the confines of the mill, the story hints at a journey across mist‑shrouded forests and quiet rivers, guided by whispers of an unseen kindness that beckons her toward a place where love and belonging might be rediscovered. The narrative is less about the specifics of her trials and more about the emotional texture of perseverance: a child learning to trust in the intangible, a community that may offer shelter, and an inner fire that refuses to be extinguished. The film invites viewers to linger in its poetic stillness, feeling the weight of each unspoken promise, and to wonder what new horizons await the girl who must rebuild herself piece by piece in a world shaped by both darkness and the lingering scent of hope.

Last Updated: August 10, 2025 at 03:12

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Characters, Settings & Themes in The Girl Without Hands

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