The characters that inhabit Marwen are all badass representations of the people in Mark’s life, but the larger narrative is also strongly influenced by a traumatic and violent attack that Mark experienced and resulted in an extended coma and permanent memory loss.
Unfortunately, he also remains stunted and crippled from recurring memories of the horrific event that changed his life forever.
While he can’t draw like he used to, he can express his vision through the drama and action that unfolds in Marwen, and winds up gaining great popularity and notoriety for his work.
The use of motion capture — also known as performance capture — is used in the movie to bring life to Marwen: a World War II-era Belgian city that entirely exists in the mind of artist Mark Hogancamp, and is brought to life with scale models and dolls that he keeps set up in his backyard.