The Next Day

"If you're feeling these emotions, you can't just wait until the next day." Nevertheless, this is exactly the idea behind this austerely animated web documentary. About a million people kill themselves every year, and there are no fewer than 19 million failed suicide attempts. What if these people had waited 24 hours to let their decision sink in? Perhaps they would have changed their minds. is a transmedial project consisting of a graphic novel and a website. The basic, almost childlike drawings are made by comic book maestro John Porcellino, who struggled with severe depression for years. While his lines in black felt-tip pen unfurl on a beige background, four survivors tell their life stories, full of broken homes, bipolar disorder, and problems with addiction. After every audio fragment, a number of options appear, marked by keywords such as "accident," "family" or "molested"; depending on your choice, you will either continue with the same story or switch to a different protagonist. These distinct puzzle pieces combine into an increasingly complete portrait of what brought these people to the point where they felt they had no choice. Meanwhile, the animations get more and more ominous: dark clouds gather around the house with its connotations of safety. The suicide attempt is getting near. The sun can return only after it has been performed, when the protagonists explain how they got their lives back on track.