Line #50 WesternAnimation/TheSuicideShop


1	[[quoteright:219:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/le_magasin_des_suicides.jpg]]
2
3	->"Has your life been a failure? Let's make your death a success."
4	->- '''The Suicide Shop motto'''
5
6	''The Suicide Shop'' (originally: ''Le Magasin Des Suicides'') is a 2012 BlackComedy AnimatedMusical based on the [[Literature/TheSuicideShop book of the same name]] by the French author and film-maker Jean Teulé. It's about the Tuvaches, the family that runs the afore-mentioned shop in the distant future after the "Big One" where life has become meaningless for most, leading to them seeking out the Suicide Shop, where they have a method to kill yourself for any budget. However, when their youngest son, Alan is born, they discover that he is not like the others...
7	----
8	!!''The Suicide Shop'' includes examples of:
9
10	* AdaptationDistillation: Marilyn attempting to inject poison into her veins to gain a KissOfDeath is not present here, nor is Vincent's anorexia and chronic pain. (See Adapted Out below)
11	* AdaptationDyeJob:
12	** In the book, Alan is described as having curly blond hair, but in here, he has spiky, ginger hair.
13	** Vincent was described in the original novel as having a beard of reddish hair. Here, he is clean-shaven and has brown hair.
14	* AdaptedOut:
15	** The film cuts several clients of the shop found in the book, such as a pre-teen girl that tries to kill herself with poisonous candies because her mother took away her phone, and an old man that dies laughing upon seeing an absolutely "ridiculous" mask (which turns out to be his reflection in a mirror).
16	** The film dispenses with the book's scene of Alan's parents trying to dispel his optimism by having him join a suicide bomb squad at Monaco.
17	** Marilyn's unborn child is left out, as the film ends shortly after first meeting her significant other and before we even see them marrying.
18	** Marilyn's character was at the core of an entire subplot but cut for the movie. In the novel, for her birthday and since she felt "useless", her parents bought her a special product that would make her kiss venomous and they opened a deadly kissing booth in the shop so that clients could die from a "Death Kiss". This helped Marilyn become a proud BigBeautifulWoman and opening up to her true beauty and sexiness, but turned out sour when she found true love and understood she would never been able to kiss him. [[spoiler: All turned out fine however thanks to Alan's meddling.]]
19	** The entire character of Vincent Tuvache was simplified for the movie and his subplot in the novel completely dropped. In the movie he is simply a morbid and complaining teenager with little personality or involvement in the plot. In the novel, he was the most loved of the Tuvache children due to being a self-destructive MadArtist. Suffering from anorexia (understand here a deep hate of food) and painful chronic headaches, he spent his days locked up in his room, experiencing awful nightmares and building disturbing projects (one entire chapter is centered around a maquette he makes for an AmusementParkofDoom centered around suicide). Alan's influence in his life made him deal with his nightmares, gain a love for food and learn about things such as "jokes" and "fun", until he became a cheerful, chubby and jolly young man using his art to help people laugh. All of this was dropped for the movie, though there are remnants of the novel characterization - such as the dark and morbid drawings Vincent makes in the movie.
20	** The young man Marilyn falls in love with was also much more developped in the novel. There, he was the caretaker of the local cemetery and had frequent interactions with the Tuvaches thanks to them being invited several times to the funerals of their clients. He also had a name, Ernest (which was one of the reasons Mishima gladly welcomed him in the family)[[labelnote:note]]He was named after the author Creator/ErnestHemingway who died of a self-inflicted gunshot, hence he fits the theme of being part of a family who are all named after famous people who committed suicide[[/labelnote]].
21	* AllThereInTheManual: According to the animated film's official art book, Alan's friends apparently do have names, though they're only named [[TheDanza after their voice actors]]. The [[FatBestFriend corpulent one]] is Mathis, [[NerdGlasses the one with the glasses]] is Jules, [[AmbiguouslyBrown the brown-skinned one]] is Simon, and [[BlondBrunetRedhead the redheaded one]] is Samuel.
22	* AmbiguouslyBrown: Mishima, [[DownplayedTrope in a sense]]. His name is unambiguously Japanese compared to the relatively Western names of his wife and children and seppuku seems to be his preferred method of suicide, but this could be chalked up as a reference to [[Creator/YukioMishima his namesake.]]
23	* AnimatedAdaptation: It's an animated film based on a novel.
24	* AnimatedMusical: The animated film has a lot of musical numbers.
25	* ApatheticCitizens: As a result of the decreasing value of life caused by [[CrapsackWorld a world]] [[ApocalypseHow suffering from the severe ravages of climate change]], either the people have gone numb or are too depressed themselves to care about the suicides happening in plain sight.
26	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "You, how would you do it?" A customer to Lucrèce about how would she commit suicide. This just after talking to her kids why they have to resist the temptation of suicide.
27	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: The Tuvaches as a whole ''do'' genuinely love each other, best exemplified by Lucrece and Mishima's actually pretty healthy marriage and [[spoiler:everyone attempting to discourage Mishima from killing Alan, who cries TearsOfJoy when he realizes Alan didn't actually kill himself.]]
28	* BaitAndSwitch: As described in InterruptedSuicide below, a citizen pulls a man off the road before he gets run over only to later suggest that he goes to the titular shop.
29	* BigOlUnibrow: Marilyn has a huge unibrow as a little girl. In the present day, they are conveniently obscured by her blunt bangs.
30	* BlackComedy: Hell yes, this film has a lot of dark humor. The intro features a view of suicides in various locations of Paris, with the delightfully ironic 1930's French song ''Y'a d'la joie'' (roughly: "There's joy!") as a musical background.
31	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead:
32	** The Tuvache children. Marilyn (blonde), Vincent (brunet), and Alan (auburn redhead).
33	** Alan and his friends coincidentally consist of this, albeit with two redheads (ginger-haired Alan and copper-haired Samuel), two brunets (black-haired Mathis and chestnut-haired Simon), and one blond (dirty blond-haired Jules).
34	* BloodlessCarnage: Weirdly enough, for a film where every suicide method is mentioned, including the rather messy ones, not much blood is seen. Though it doesn't make the actual deaths any less macabre.
35	* BrotherSisterIncest: Thankfully it's only subtext, but Alan sure finds his sister pretty... He even peeps on her dancing naked in her room (with all his friends no less!) and draws pictures of her naked. It mildly freaks out their mom when she finds out.
36	* BungledSuicide: A customer failed to hang himself when his noose snapped. [[spoiler: He's officially the last customer of the Suicide Shop once he ingested a poisoned crepe secretly given to him by Mishima, the shop itself having been converted to a crepe restaurant by the time he came back]].
37	* CanonForeigner: Alan's friends, who are just as happy as he is, are not in the original book. It's assumed they're added to help him with his plan to cheer up his family and the entire city.
38	* ConditionedToAcceptHorror:
39	** As children, Marilyn and Vincent were tasked to follow the clients then inform their parents if an attempted suicide was successful, and so they have both become numb to the concept of suicide and death in general, that as teenagers in the present, repeatedly express a desire to kill themselves, Marilyn especially. Subverted when at the same time, as children, they express that watching suicides is "no fun", [[spoiler:which may explain why they were easily reformed once the titular shop got ruined and have no choice but to spend time with their family.]]
40	** Averted with Alan. Being the WhiteSheep of the family, his cheerful demeanour disappears every time he witnesses or is made aware of a suicide in plain sight. Hence, his later plan to disrupt his family's business.
41	* CrapsackWorld: The world would have to be a horrible place if so many people are depressed enough to want to kill themselves.
42	* CheerfulChild: Alan is constantly smiling and isn't as gloomy and dour as everyone else in town. His parents even tried to get him to frown. He is also in a group of equally cheerful boys from school.
43	* ChildrenAreInnocent: Alan sees nothing sexual about his sister getting changed and dancing around her room naked, unlike his friends, it's just that he likes to watch her dance.
44	* ChubbyMamaSkinnyPapa: The trope of the thin father and obese mother is invoked with Mishima and Lucrèce.
45	* ComplimentBackfire: Alain calling Marylin "pretty" actually drove her to tears while denying it and reassuring herself she is ugly.
46	* DeathSeeker: Marilyn and Vincent both wish to die (the former, mostly), but their parents won't let them kill themselves. The parents are also wishing to die, but feel they must stay alive so they can help the other people in their town who are suicidal.
47	* DirtyKid: Alan might fall into ChildrenAreInnocent when he invited his friends to watch his sister dance naked in her room, but his friends certainly don't.
48	* DisneyAcidSequence: A very dark example. While Mishima is describing his dilemma to the psychiatrist, the scene suddenly shifts to stylized inkblots portraying his troubled mind and various methods of suicide backed by distorted dialogue heard in previous scenes.
49	* DrivenToSuicide: A lot of people end up committing suicide in the film for various reasons.
50	* DrJerk: Despite giving him a straightforward diagnosis, Mishima's therapist gleefully sings to him as to how he makes a profit off of suffering like his and how life is horrible.
51	* EveryoneHasStandards: The Tuvaches might make a living selling methods of suicide, but they draw the line at actually assisting in the dirty deed.
52	* FatAndSkinny: Marilyn and Vincent as teenagers, with the former being rather rotund and the latter being lanky.
53	* FilmOfTheBook: It's a film based on a book.
54	* FourthDateMarriage: The Breton for Marilyn's hand in marriage before even knowing her name.
55	* {{Goth}}: Marilyn's make up and the color scheme of her clothes resemble one. [[spoiler: It's possible she becomes a PerkyGoth when she hooks up with the Breton]].
56	* GhostReunionEnding: Several of the characters who have committed suicide in the film return as ghosts in the film's last musical number.
57	* GratuitousGerman: Mishima's therapist counts to 3 in German before starting his song.
58	* [[spoiler: HappilyEverAfter: Breton crepes for everyone!]]
59	* HeelRealization: Mishima when he went with Mr. Calmel to see him happily commit suicide, and discovering he actually was happy before.
60	* InterruptedSuicide: Subverted. The first onscreen attempted suicide in the movie (in which a down-on-his-luck man crosses a busy road in order to get run over) is stopped by a witness and gives him a WhatTheHellHero about how foolish he was for attempting suicide ''[[SkewedPriorities in public]]'' [[BaitAndSwitchComment because it's against the law and it might not work]]. He then suggests he makes one last visit to the Suicide Shop.
61	** Mishima attempts to poison himself at one point, but Lucrèce stops him [[OhCrap after realizing that his side of the bed is empty]]. This is after Mishima delivered some poison to an elderly and sickly customer [[StrawNihilist who espouses some very bleak viewpoints about life]].
62	** A more discreet example. When asked to follow a customer who was about to drown himself near their home, Alan sawed the chain in half--without the customer's knowledge--attached to the guy's leg where the cinder block would've pulled him to his watery grave upon dropping it.
63	* LoveAtFirstSight: Marilyn and the Breton fall in love when they first meet.
64	* MeaningfulName: All three of the Tuvache children are named after suicides.
65	** Alan for Alan Turing, who ate an apple poisoned with cyanide.
66	** Marilyn for Creator/MarilynMonroe (Although, it disputed as to whether or not that was the case)
67	** Vincent for Creator/VincentVanGogh, who shot himself in the chest.
68	** Also true for the parents: Mishima is named after the modern Japanese writer Creator/YukioMishima, infamous for committing a ritual {{Seppuku}}, ''after doing a short novel and a movie about it''. And Lucrèce is for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucretia Lucretia]], a virtuous role-model figure in [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Roman mythology]], who committed suicide [[ValuesDissonance to cleanse the shame of being raped]].
69	* MsFanservice: Alan's teenage sister Marilyn, though dramatically lacking in the area of self-esteem, gets to be this as she starts [[YouCanLeaveYourHatOn exploring]] her [[BeautifulAllAlong femininity]]. Alan and his friends approve.
70	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
71	** After his appointment with Mr. Calmel, Mishima starts breaking down over the fact that he's basically assisted in killing people, which begins to wear down on his mind once it comes into conflict with his occupation and view on life. [[spoiler:He also briefly goes into VillainousBSOD when he thinks he's killed Alan.]]
72	** [[spoiler: In the final musical number, all the people who committed suicide come back as ghosts and express their regret over throwing their lives away upon seeing how happy everyone is now thanks to the Tuvaches' new crepe restaurant.]]
73	* NoNameGiven: There are several nameless characters in the film.
74	** Alan's friends who are simply credited as "[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Alan's friends]]" (Les Copains d'Alan). Though subverted since they are named in bonus material.
75	** Every client of the suicide shop is credited as their respective roles.
76	** Marilyn's love interest is either referred to as the Breton or, according to the credits, "the {{pretty boy}}" (Le Joli Garçon).
77	** Mishima's doctor gets a whole music number to himself, but no name.
78	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: The therapist Mishima visits has a much more simplified design compared to the detailed and very stylized populace. His large round head, small face, and [[NoodlePeople rubber-hose limbs]] wouldn't look out of place in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''.
79	* NotSoStoic: Alan's attempt to lighten everyone's mood ''does'' reveal that the children actually feel that there's nothing they could do because they're just kids and lament that they might end up as orphans due to the high suicide rate. Finding out about this causes Alan to come up with ThePlan.
80	* OffingTheOffspring: Mishima strangles Alan to death in a DaydreamSurprise and then attempts to shorten his life by getting him to start smoking. [[spoiler: After being driven insane, he attempts to murder Alan directly with a Tachi.]]
81	* PragmaticAdaptation: The movie manages to incorporate several events that do happen in the book and the dialogue exchanges are more or less the same, but they take place in different intervals in order to streamline the storytelling. A good example is the Suicide Shop [[spoiler: turning into a restaurant of sorts. While it happens immediately by the film's end, the change was much more gradual in the book. And it occurs more or less without Mishima's consent]].
82	** Both this and the book describe it being set in a near-apocalyptic future but this is more exclusive to the book where the state of the world is described in detail via news reports while the movie itself is set squarely in a French city where the cost of living is high and so is the suicide rate with no further explanation. It can go both ways.
83	* RunningGag: [[RuleOfThree Done three times]], no less. Marilyn, as a little girl, being thrown off of her chair whenever her dad suddenly opens the cellar door.
84	* SacrificialLamb: The hopeless suicidal man who we first see visiting the suicide shop and the body count just rises from there. He even gets a song number of his own before he does it.
85	* SkewedPriorities: PlayedForLaughs at points. Mishima's reaction to a man he just sold a bullet to only running a few yards away from the shop before putting it in his head? Angrily comment that he told him not to do it on the public road before falling back asleep.
86	* SmallRoleBigImpact: Alan's friend's uncle--called Uncle Dom--helps Alan and the kids with the car that blasts out electronic dance music from the car so loud and powerful, it destroys every gear in the shop. The ensuing chaos also causes Marilyn and the Breton to share a dance and fall in love.
87	** Speaking of whom, [[spoiler: the Breton's crepes also help in transforming the shop into a restaurant by the end of the movie despite just appearing by the latter third into the movie.]]
88	* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Alain actually commits suicide in the book, implied to be because [[ButNowIMustGo he feels he has nothing more to do.]] The movie has him live so he can see everyone enjoy their newfound lust for life.]]
89	* SplashOfColor: Downplayed, but in the gray and somber city, the store is the most colorful place.
90	* StepfordSmiler: The duet between Lucrèce and Mishima reveals that behind their jovial and blasé attitude towards suicide is that they suffer immense guilt, depression, and unsurprisingly, suicidal thoughts from providing the public the means to go forward with ending their lives. The latter even nearly attempts to poison himself before [[InterruptedSuicide Lucrèce wakes up just in time to stop him]].
91	* TheStoic: Most of the citizens, which even reaches [[ApatheticCitizens apathetic citizen]] levels. Same can be assumed for the children while the Tuvache children ride the bus to school, they couldn't care less about the racket Alan and his friends were making in the back.
92	* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler: Mishima when Alan jumps off the building. Turns to TearsOfJoy when he sees Alan survived.]]
93	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Mishima sees a therapist after his suicide attempt, not that it helps much.
94	* ToneShift: Compared to the rather bleak humor characterizing the first two thirds of the movie, its cheerful grand finale comes off as [[LighterAndSofter incredibly light-hearted]].
95	* TrueArtIsAngsty: InUniverse. Lucrèce criticizes Alan's art for portraying their family happy so she shows him an example of Vincent's drawing (an overly macabre, shadowy graveyard scene of a hangman tree containing a body) and calls it "pretty" because it's sad.
96	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Alan. He wants to get rid of the city's suicides and stop his family from assisting it, so the best option is to [[spoiler: destroy it with his friends, knowing that (at the point) it's the Tuvache family's only source of income and their store for multiple generations. He even says in his song that if it bothers people, to just deal with it for "the good mood is on its way."]]
97	* WeWillHaveEuthanasiaInTheFuture: It's in the title.
98	* WhenSheSmiles: Marilyn is the first of the Tuvaches to be reformed. Seeing Marilyn smile is what starts Lucrèce's own reformation.
99	* WhiteSheep: Alan is looked down on by his melancholy family for his cheerful nature.

Context WesternAnimation / TheSuicideShop