In a dark, surreal world where an eternal green mist hangs over the city, children are being abducted by a mysterious army of cyclopses. Behind the disappearances lies Krank, an eccentric scientist who is unable to dream and is therefore ageing at an accelerated rate. From his laboratory on a remote oil rig, he attempts to steal the dreams of the abducted children in order to prolong his own life. When Denrée, the adopted younger brother of the kind-hearted strongman One (Ron Perlman), also goes missing, One embarks on a desperate search. Together with the young, street-wise orphan girl Miette (Judith Vittet), he finds himself in a wondrous world full of bizarre characters, dangerous creatures and the most unlikely adventures.

Following their successful debut Delicatessen (1991), Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro took their unique cinematic universe a step further with La Cité des Enfants Perdus. The result is a dark fairy tale for adults, somewhere between a Victorian nightmare, a post-apocalyptic fantasy world and the bizarre imagination of a comic-book artist. The film is brimming with grotesque characters: six identical clones, a talking brain in an aquarium, murderous cyclopses and a deranged scientist desperately searching for dreams.

But it is above all the stunning design and the endless visual innovations that make the film unforgettable. The meticulously crafted sets, the unusual camera angles and the special effects – which were groundbreaking at the time – create a world entirely of its own, in which the boundaries between dream and reality are constantly blurring. The extravagant costumes were designed by fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, whilst the melancholic, enchanting music by Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) lends the film an almost hypnotic atmosphere.

With La Cité des Enfants Perdus, Jeunet and Caro created one of the most wild and visually inventive fantasy films of the 1990s. An enchanting nightmare brimming with black humour, grotesque beauty and unforgettable imagery, in which, beneath all the darkness, lies a moving story of friendship and innocence. A unique cult classic that, thirty years on, has lost none of its wondrous appeal.