97th Oscar-Nominated Shorts (Animated)

Beautiful Men

Rating

Director

Nicolas Keppens

Screenplay

Nicolas Keppens

Length

18m

Starring

Peter Van den Begin, Peter De Graef, Tom Dewispelaere, Nayat Sari, Laure Van Medegael

MPAA Rating

Not Rated

Review

In Istanbul, three brothers have come to seek treatment at a hair replacement clinic. Unfortunately, the booking is misplaced and rather than getting appointments for all three, they have a single appointment that they must decide who gets to take.

In the fog, the three men reveal their innermost thoughts, creating a potential wedge between the brothers. While there are moments that are certainly intriguing, the lack of background details and unappealing character models get in the way of what could have been a more compelling narrative with some added depth.

When the twist comes, the tedium of the dialogue has almost set in but gives the film new life. While it’s a bit of a cheat ending, it makes up for the dullness of earlier moments.

In the Shadows of the Cypress

Rating

Director

Hossein Molayemi, Shirin Sohani

Screenplay

Hossein Molayemi, Shirin Sohani

Length

20m

Starring

Zahra Moosavi

MPAA Rating

Not Rated

Review

An old soldier lives a post-war life that is plagued by post-traumatic stress. Despite the care of his loving wife, these fits seldom pass easily and cause him to lash out or hide whichever he feels necessary at the time. In the night, a whale beaches itself on the shore near their home. While the woman tries to rescue the whale, her husband tries his best but his memories resurface and send him into hiding on his derelict ship.

This wordless short film has a very spare aesthetic. Few background design details, allowing its elongated figures to dominate the scene without giving much specificity to the locale and thus the people to whom it should speak. Instead, the short acts as a poem for the weary and strained whose past haunts them at inopportune moments. Its Arabic designs are interestingly evoked but the unnecessary affectations of the design work don’t prevent the production from looking sparse.

The only major issue is that the concept doesn’t reveal itself quickly enough. The short’s opening moments almost suggest this will be a story about spousal abuse, which to an extent it is, but the source of the abuse is something a bit more complicated than the initial impression of a bad man doing bad things with only his compassionate wife to tame him. There’s nuance but it takes time to present itself and that confusion doesn’t entirely resolve quickly enough and ultimately feels like a missed opportunity.

Magic Candies

Rating

Director

Daisuke Nishio

Screenplay

Ichiro Takano (Book: Heena Baek)

Length

21m

Starring

Haruto Shima, Yoshifumi Hasegawa, Niroshi Iwaski, Sakiko Uran, Ikkei Watanabe, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Oi Kiko

MPAA Rating

Not Rated

Review

The most frivolous of the five nominees is this cute little short about a lonely boy who loves playing marbles but has no one to play them with. When he discovers a set of magic candies that allow him to communicate with his dog, his sofa, and others, the more high-minded concepts begin to unwind for the audience.

For a younger viewer, something like this is cute and fun. The animation is richly detailed and the concept is intriguing. The problem is that the ideas of childhood loneliness and autism aren’t explored as fully as they could be. It ends before it could delve more deeply into its concepts and in the end feels like it only superficially tackles the concept.

Unlike some of the other entries, this short has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It has some amorphous qualities, since we don’t know if the boy will find that which he has always sought but the story feels adequately resolved.

Wander to Wonder

Rating

Director

Nina Gantz

Screenplay

Daan Bakker, Stienette Bosklopper, Simon Cartwright, Nina Gantz

Length

14m

Starring

Neil Salvage, Toby Jones, Amanda Lawrence, Terence Dunn

MPAA Rating

Not Rated

Review

We’ve had a lot of films, animated and otherwise, that have explored the ideas of coming of age and growing beyond our childish roots. Some of them paint our childhood fantasies as treasures that have become old-fashioned and forgotten. Wander to Wonder does that in a strangely fascinating, it injects a healthy and stark dose of realism into those narratives.

The short begins in media res. The aged host of a beloved children’s show has died. The puppets don’t know what to do with themselves now that he’s gone. It’s a fascinating concept for a short film and while it’s a very bleak and unforgiving narrative, the texture and tone of the stop-motion production make it feel alive.

The foundations of our childhoods are built on towering figures who spoke directly to kids. They educated, they informed, and they entertained. Those days have long faded and this film exemplifies how our beloved concepts have been torn apart by an uncaring and unforgiving world where tolerance, acceptance, and knowledge are tossed aside when it becomes inconvenient. It’s a thematically rich condemnation of the rise of vitriol, hatred, and cherished ignorance and that helps it resonate far more strongly than any of these other titles.

Yuck!

Rating

Director

Loïc Espuche

Screenplay

Loïc Espuche

Length

13m

Starring

Noé Chabbat, Katell Varvat, Enzo Desmedt, Camille Bouisson, Hugo Chauvel, Roman Freud, Mattias Marcussy, Mkhtar Camara, Olivia Chatain, Théo Costa-Marini

MPAA Rating

Not Rated

Review

I chose to list my reviews in alphabetical order and while that meant my favorite came in next-to-last, my second favorite takes up the rear and I’m ok with that. Yuck! is a compelling tale of a group of kids who get grossed out by adults kissing and make themselves a nuisance playing off of each others’ expressions.

When two members of this group begin to have feelings for one other, they become ostracized from the group for displaying the adult-like obsession with locking lips. To be fair to the children, kissing is an inherently gross exchange of saliva and were it not for the social construct that dictates kissing as an acceptable way of showing your feelings for another, its ridicule by young kids is oddly affecting. However, beneath the sentiment of disgust that permeates the minds of the kids (and even a pair of queer teenagers), the connection and togetherness afforded by a simple act of grossness is a charming and inviting idea.

The adults who’ve been showing affection for years dismiss the childish antics of these uncomprehending youths but it takes a genuine act of courage and understanding to shift stances towards acceptance. The animated style is reminiscent of Pixar’s most prominent short films, the round, cherubic faces evoking wonder. The choice to animate the lips of those who are preparing to kiss in a glittery pink perfectly encapsulates the romantic concepts on display. While some of the humor is a bit sophomoric, it nevertheless feels like an inviting film that will leave the audience feeling warm inside.

Review Written

February 19, 2025