Blending traditional and computer animation, the film is a subtle narrative about a young girl's survival of childhood abuse.

The story is told in fairytale-like, concise animations based on children's books, which ambiguously and subtly create an eerie atmosphere, where the young girl perceives the grandfather as a silent, foreboding presence.

She is frightened by the knots of wood in the ceiling that resemble eyes, and the creaking of the old wooden floorboards at night.

After her grandmother's death, the girl matures into womanhood and attempts to free herself from the trauma of her childhood by sinking the tusk into the lake.

They worked to craft a film based on various psychological defense mechanisms, such as dissociation and repression.

They chose the remoteness of the south of France as their setting and wanted the narrative to reflect the "banality" of everyday life there.

[9][10] Pachyderme was produced by Tu Nous ZA Pas Vus (TNZPV) Productions and Folimage.

[13] It was also screened in the official competition at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on 13 June 2022.