Latest Short Film Reviews

The Human Equation is a bleak portrait of the future where AI robots have taken control of all the world’s nuclear weapons. The narrative takes place entirely in a single location, following one scientist, Dr. Lacan (Rowan Polonski), as he is summoned to hear an ASI Android’s (Cassie Clare) verdict on the future of the human race.

While the narrative isn't the most original in its themes and messaging, the film’s execution is incredibly provocative and unsettling. The single location allows each performance to shine, while the dialogue-driven approach effectively conveys the film’s central themes. What's most impressive is how the filmmakers immediately build tension through unique blocking choices and by keeping both characters at the centre of the frame. Despite the film's brisk runtime, the world-building is astounding and establishes the stakes and state of the world the characters live in. Many themes around AI taking over the world have been rehashed in science fiction media for years; however, the film’s take on our relationship with AI is incredibly thought-provoking. It's a largely original approach that still draws on the science fiction films that came before it.

Despite the film's evident budget constraints, its single-location set is incredible, boasting a futuristic aesthetic. It also makes the experience claustrophobic and unsettling throughout. The film's narrative and performances feel heavily influenced by Ex Machina (2014), with its depiction of androids sharing intimacy with humans. Thematically, the film is also politically charged, with eye-opening dialogue that explores the ramifications of political discourse and its impact on humans' relationship with technology.

Technically, The Human Equation fires on all cylinders with unique framing and musical choices. Jose Chica serves as the film’s cinematographer and uses wider framing to establish the location's confinement. The camera also shifts to extreme close-ups during dialogue-heavy moments, an apt choice to anchor the tension growing between the two central characters. Another stylistic choice that pays off profoundly is the shift to surveillance footage, as this expands on the film's themes of technology taking over. The music, though infrequent, fits the narrative and creates unease as Dr. Lacan tries to get answers about the future from the ASI Android. That said, some baffling editing choices occasionally detract from the otherwise seamless experience.

Both Cassie Clare and Rowan Polonski’s portrayals of the ASI Android and Dr. Lacan, respectively, are sensational. Cassie Clare delivers a remarkably convincing portrayal of the ASI Android, making the character feel entirely believable within the film’s briefly established world. Rowan Polonski’s turn as Dr. Lacan is engaging as he conveys the sheer anxiety caused by the future he’s living in and attempts to gather answers from the ASI Android. Their enticing chemistry also helps during the more intimate moments, and it makes for an incredibly unsettling exchange.

The Human Equation is an incredibly provocative and unnerving piece of science fiction that raises thought-provoking questions about the human relationship with AI. It leaves the audience wanting more while providing them with enough payoff for discussion after the credits roll. Assisted by two compelling central performances, The Human Equation is a cerebral experience that feels particularly vital in the current moment we’re living in.

A dramatic short animated film written, produced, animated and directed by Australia and Nepal-based filmmaker and animator Prajdnik Awasthi.

Although there isn't really a narrative here, this short does tell a story and it involves a Nepalese father and his young so, whose bond is destroyed by a traumatic event. Interestingly, this terrible event is compared to the Earth and the Moon, with the Earth being the parent and the Moon being the boy. The comparisons are that the bond between the father and his son is as strong as the forces that connect the Earth and the Moon and that the Moon always has a side that is hidden from the Earth and this fact is transitioned to the youngster not revealing to his father what happened to him, and thus having a side not seen by the parent.

The visuals alternate between the Nepalese father and son and the Earth and the Moon, before mixing them together in order to visualise the comparisons. Sequences including the boy walking away from his sad father and the two of them losing the grip they have on each other while floating in space result in quite emotional moments and great colours and lighting place the animation in high quality standards.

The characters do not speak and narration is utilised instead in order to tell the story. The narrator is the son and he does more than storytelling, getting philosophical and heavily mourning the devastation caused by the occurrence that has separated him from his beloved father. Adding to the melancholic atmosphere is the sombre music by Jason Kunwar that plays throughout.

It is notable how much drama and emotion is generated by this seven-minute-long story. From start to finish, the sadness is evident thanks to the visuals, the narration and the music that combine and establish a poignant story and this is gives significant power to this short.

This film is very direct in recognising the significance of a father-and-son bond, how special and valuable this connection is and it is equally direct in acknowledging the massive psychological destruction that affects both parent and child by the event that caused the bond to break. This project dramatically points out how precious life is and how fragile it is, with people's worlds collapsing in the blink of an eye.

A sad but beautiful film.

Vital explores the world of organ trade. A struggling mother in Iran considering giving up her own organ for her daughter and a doctor in the United States juggling with a moral dilemma in order to save his daughter.

We follow two characters and their parallels set against different social backgrounds. Fereshteh (Mahtab Servati) is a mother with a son and daughter trying to make ends meet. She is searching every avenue to save her daughter and in the process offering up her own organs. Dariush (Reza Akhlaghirad) is a prestigious doctor living in the US trying to figure out how to also save his daughter, with wait lists and organs few and far between, time is of the essence.

Throughout, we see gripping visuals and the realities and hardships faced by each parent of different status. At this point their backgrounds don’t matter, they’re fighting the same fight. Amir Zargara does a great job of presenting us with a wider ethical issue but never defining any character as villainous even through turbulent times. We see just how far they are willing to go for their children and it’s not demonised. This is especially important as it tests the limits of our mindsets towards our loved ones, ones in which we can all resonate with.

Both leads, Servati and Akhlaghirad display their characters’ vulnerabilities and internal battles well. This will strike an emotional chord with any viewer. Set against a dark and dingy background for the most part, we feel every part of their desperation which only opens out into a wider issue. Zargara has stated that Vital came about from his childhood in Iran and not fully grasping what the organ trade meant. Having been between Iran and North America, he saw how the systems varied but still faced the same issue. It explores the fine balance between morality and love, which can cloud the other.

With just a 14-minute run time, it packs in so much raw emotion, from guilt, grief, to the unknowing. That is a testament to the leads and the striking visuals throughout, created by cinematographer Jelani Maxwell. There is a simple but impactful shot of a bulletin board swarmed with flyers about organ trade. People offering up their organs in exchange for money, food, or trying to find donations themselves. This alone really hits home the crisis and hopelessness; this feels like their last and only option. A must-see project to broaden our knowledge of very real and devastating tragedies.

Vital has recently won the Short Film Award at the Humanitas Prize and also named a winner of the Hollyshorts x Stage 32 Short Film contest. It’s no surprise it has also qualified for the 2027 Oscars and Academy Awards.

A woman is haunted by strange sounds and traumatic images after she moves into a new apartment across from a strangely familiar woodland.

In Kuba Marczuk’s new short film, Echoes, he drops us right into the middle of a mystery where Agnes (Davey), along with the entire audience, is lost. She is wandering through some fairly typical English woodland, not knowing which direction to take, even though she lives in the middle of London and must know that by walking five minutes in any one direction she’ll eventually reach civilisation once again.

Agnes takes out her mobile phone, to at least place her in modern times, but it is of no help to her as she aimlessly wanders around the overgrown brush. Unable to get the focus right as he shows us the ominous spaces between the trees, Marczuk leads Agnes on past a small stream, out into a clearing, where some laughable special effects pass over her eyes and take control of her body. Whilst unconscious, Agnes has visions of the past, where she is running around the same woodland, lost in the same way as we all are, but in a scarlet dress with a dangerously low neckline.

With the infernal ringing of her phone bringing her back to the present, Agnes picks herself up, dusts herself off, and looks out over the skyline of the bustling city, which of course, was right in front of her this whole time. As she tries to settle herself back into the regularity of her life, her friend Amari (Daroy) gets that annoying ringtone pinging away again, as she attempts to bring Agnes back to the real world. However, with missed dinner and lunch dates becoming more frequent, Agnes finds herself continually drawn back to wanting to roam the woods in vintage clothing.

As you might have already guessed, nothing in Echoes makes a lick of sense. There’s no introduction to the setup or the scenario, there’s no dialogue for the first third of the film, which turns out to have been a bit of a blessing when the characters do eventually start speaking, and there’s never any explanation for anything that is happening on screen other than a strange glowing locket, which again remains mysterious and without any clarification whatsoever. There are hints of witchcraft or at least of the persecution by witch-hunters in the flashback scenes, but as these are again without dialogue, explanation, or any sort of sense, nothing is ever explicit in what is being shown to the viewer.

Trying instead to tell part of his story through sound design, Marczuk places whispering echoes across his visuals, mixed in with the noises of the city or the woodland (which if we remember are right next to each other), or that damned ringtone, which is meant to cut across worlds and through time to bring Agnes back to herself. All of this is meant to build tension and atmosphere, but instead just gets all muddled together in a large mess, which in all honesty is far more annoying and distracting to the audience than anything else. Similarly, the audio from phone calls is unintelligible, while the dialogue from actual in-person scenes can sometimes go so quiet that again we don’t know what is said. None of this really matters in the long run though, as the story makes so little sense that a few missed words could never change the outcome or feeling that the audience has.

The longer that Echoes goes on, the less it makes sense, as Amari joins Agnes in the flashback scenes, which look like they are supposed to be somewhere around Elizabethan times, and everything becomes one big jumbled mess. There is never any backstory to the locket, or to the magic that somehow manifests itself, and no conclusion is ever given to just what the actual fuzz was going on for the entire fifteen-minute runtime. Marczuk has instead thrown together a whole bunch of disparate storytelling mechanics and crumpled them all up into a paper ball, which even he can’t unravel again, and which in all good grace should have been thrown into the waste-paper bin to start with.

There is almost nothing to recommend Echoes to the viewer, save for maybe the committed performances of the two female leads. They are, however, working with absolutely nothing to go on and in the end find themselves a part of something that should have remained an echo, or a whisper, or a dream, instead of a film that goes nowhere and offers nothing to anyone.

“Once Upon a Time in the Apocalypse” (“Era Uma Vez no Apocalipse”), a Portuguese short film released in July 2024, follows Ernesto (Sérgio Godinho), a rebel against the totalitarian regime present in the nuclear winter set in the seemingly not-so-distant future following an imagined version of World War Three. We, the audience, observe as Ernesto attempts to retain peace and safely hide his daughter, Helena (Marian Pacheco), alongside a rescued infant, when a strict colonel (Paulo Calatré) breaches their solitary cabin. Tension rises as the colonel establishes dominance over the course of the interrogation, allowing for a gripping altercation to occur in such a short amount of time and in one single setting.

The short instantly rings similar to media depicting Cold War confrontation: the air of recovery from a recently concluded war, authoritarian oppression, and those who are psychologically breaking underneath the weight of survival; this is immediately addressed in universe with a spoken comparison. In a scary fact, the aftermath of nuclear inclusion creating this winter-adjacent atmosphere is about the only thing to differentiate what we see here to what we have been exposed to hundreds of times before (e.g. George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four).

Upon the colonel’s arrival, it is evident that Ernesto prioritizes the wellbeing of his family over that of the State. This is reinforced by his later revelation as a rebel on the run who operated during the war, fighting for freedom. Helena, now hiding in the house, is being hunted for stealing food from government warehouses; this allows for the involvement of deceptive tactics utilised by the colonel as he asks Ernesto if he may offer any confectionery (likely stolen). An unexpected Pinocchio book becomes the crux of the interrogation, a genius tool to explore the roles of our rebel and fascist ideologies. Ernesto, our “Pinocchio”, lies under positive intentions in an aim to do ultimate good, whilst the colonel (almost laughably) draws similarities between himself and Jiminy Cricket (this well-meaning cricket often serves as a conscience and moral compass for the titular character). A fascist state, whilst definitely eliminating lapses in judgement, would never hesitate in the killing of such troublemakers. “This is a strange new world,” the colonel claims, whilst only threatening the same punishment committed globally (and daily) preceding the fictional war. This irony is not hard to detect when scratching the surface of any autocratic power. The ultimate conclusion is shocking, yet telling of the cycles of war - violence will continue to fester amongst our species, even following nuclear action. I could also tell the interpretations of the surprise final twist, but a full viewing experience is definitely worth the jaw-dropping disclosure.

Operating under an approximate €6,000 budget, director Tiago Pimentel was able to generate almost a feature-length feel to this 21-minute runtime, almost as if this scene is a gateway into a much larger narrative; perhaps revenue generated may be channelled into future projects to explore this impending new world. This high level of professionalism can be attributed to cinematographer Tomas Brice, using an Arri Alexa camera equipped with Arri Aster Anamorphic Lenses to allow for a wide, cinematic scope. The hiring of Sérgio Godinho, one of the most influential and versatile forces in Portuguese pop music, and production designer Luis Sequeira, a two-time Oscar nominee for his work on The Shape of Water (2017) and Nightmare Alley (2021), certainly cements the influential nature of this production (carried out by Jângal Studios). Every detail is nailed to a T, whether the muted tones to immerse the viewer into this post-apocalyptic milieu, the straight-edged versus bending designs of the colonels and Ernesto’s brandy glasses, or the expertly crafted dialogue of the interrogation.

The film amassed a successful, multi-year festival run, winning several awards such as “Best Short Film” at Gen-Con Film Festival and undergoing screenings at San Diego and New York Comic Con. It also took advantage of the San Francisco Roxie Theatre’s First Looks Program in an effort to achieve Academy Award eligibility requirements.

It may be safe to say that this fictional conjecture does not solely exist on the basis of creating entertaining drama - it is a sharp warning of the establishments that the harsh nuclear winters could bring following a World War Three scale catastrophe. This intriguing approach takes a bottom-up view from the perspective of these secluded fugitives, rather than an overview of the entire world state throughout this aftermath, allowing for a more personalised and relatable feel. I would easily recommend “Once Upon a Time in The Apocalypse” purely on account of latter half absurdity; however, I would implore that the overarching message is taken at face value: fascist regimes are not just a thing of the past, and the end of the world may not be enough to stop them.

Smoking Kills is a 14-second stop-motion short film. It has a comedic tone and features two blue claymation characters: one smoking a cigarette and the other holding a gun. The film's background is white. The title at the start of the film is Smoking Kills.

The blue clay characters have been crudely put together and resemble what a child would make in their early school years. I think this was by design rather than a lack of modelling skill on the creator's part, but I may be wrong. One character appears to have an action-figure gun in their hand, and the other has a small cigarette in their mouth. The white background contrasts well with the blue characters and the red lettering at the beginning and end. The voices are robotic and distorted, which fits the overall production quality. There is very little dialogue, which is to be expected for such a short film. The stepping sound is overly loud and out of sync with the movement, which is a shame. The piano music at the beginning and end fits in well and reminds me of the music used in the silent films of the 1920’s.

Stop-motion filming can be painstaking, and creating only seconds of film can take hours. So this film still requires effort, even though the characters don't appear to be created with a great deal of skill or hard work. So some credit has to go to the creator for making this film, and the characters move at least at a basic level, with some smooth movement involved.

I believe the message is that Smoking Kills, but it’s portrayed in a comedic fashion. The message is lost at the beginning and would have been more impactful had it been at the end. Many educational videos try to add comedy to this serious topic, and they are often quite hard-hitting. This film, however, isn’t one of those and is unlikely to bring about any laughter either. It is an important message, with 10 per cent of adults still choosing to smoke in the UK and many deaths still attributed to smoking. So any attempts to bring this message to an audience are hugely important.

Overall, this is a low-quality film, although there is clear skill to making stop-motion films and time has no doubt been spent on this creation. The message is sadly lost, which is very disappointing. The crude nature of the modelling doesn’t detract and actually works well with the film’s simplistic style. The creator, Max Palmer, has a second film with a similar style called The Worm, so if you like this, it may be worth checking that out too. This film could motivate people to try filmmaking and experiment with claymation, so in that respect it could be positive.

The second short film by director and animator Max Palmer.

Since the duration is twenty five seconds, it would be tricky to review this without spoilers. So, what takes place here? The animation consists of claymation and filmed as one long take. There are characters (three in total) who are figures that are supposed to be humans (men, to be precise, judging by the voices) and they are made out of what looks like plasticine and the surrounding environment consists of a white floor and a white wall. There is a narrative and it begins with a white (completely white that is) character (who appears to be drunk) talking to a blue character about performing an act that will make him (the white one) see the worm, before falling on his face and smashing it and then another blue character enters the frame and as they attempt to help the injured one, they suffer the same fate as him.

Overall, the viewing is amusing, with good sound effects. The splatter parts are probably the highlights here, adding dark humour.

It is evident that this is unskilled and uncreative work, with the claymation being very simple. To be more accurate, the characters hardly look like any kind of figures at all, let alone humans. Without the voices, one could not tell that these plasticine creations are supposed to be people. Additionally, at times, the creator's fingers and hands are visible. Very, very plain work and the voice acting is not of high standards.

What is this film about? What themes does it address? This might be hard to point out. Perhaps it involves drunkenness, naivety and carelessness. It is hard to tell. Or maybe this is intended to be just a fun viewing.

Although it is appreciated that effort was made to create something, the result is an animated short of poor standards. Maybe it would be better if one does not attempt to comprehend the story and the themes or compare the animation to masterpieces and just try to enjoy the silly show.

This short film follows a man (Shashank Arora) through the streets of Bombay as he searches for a guitar after his has been stolen. The guitar plays a vital role in helping him make a living, and part of the act involves dressing up as a cowboy in a red suit with light tassels and wearing a bright white Stetson. He seeks help from many individuals as he tries to make the gig he is due to perform that night. It is clear that the money he will earn is paramount to his survival.

The visual picture of a man walking through the streets of Bombay dressed as a cowboy is particularly striking. It is not an image that you’d expect to see. The music adds to the effect, combining traditional Indian music with a cowboy western sound. The film's highlight is a unique performance of the Song “Ring of Fire.” Again, the music mixes traditional Indian music, including the Sitar and drums, along with the Western acoustic guitar. The musical score deepens the sad story and complements its desperation. Teddy Stern composes the music throughout the film.

This appears to be a breakthrough film for Teddy Stern, and he is heavily involved in the direction, writing and musical score. The film clearly shows Bombay's influence on him, as he previously created Bollywood commercials in India for nearly a decade. He is from New York, and in this short film, viewers can see a blend of Western and Indian culture. This makes for a visually stunning piece. Combining so many elements and playing a major role in every aspect of the film is a challenge, and the result is a success.

The dialogue is predominantly in Hindi with some English. English subtitles appear throughout, although the film isn't dialogue-heavy and the acting makes it easy to follow. Shashank Arora gives a strong performance and conveys the melancholy his character feels as he tries to find a replacement guitar. The audience also hears his desperation as the cowboy seeks help from anyone who crosses his path. As previously stated, the rendition of “Ring of Fire” stands out. Rajesh Balwani adds some humour as the cruel friend dressed as Elvis. It is clear that the cowboy has wronged others as he tries to survive. Some don’t easily forget.

This is a story of survival, not just for the cowboy but for many others working and living in Bombay. The ending is poignant and leaves the viewers with the answers to their questions. Overall, this film was created by someone who understands life in Bombay and appreciates Indian culture. The characters add layers to the plot, thanks to the writer's talent. This story could be developed further as a feature film, as there are still so many aspects of the cowboy’s life to explore. I would definitely be interested in seeing more.

A short comedy drama written and directed by Michael Cusumano and starring Charity Schubert and Espyn Doughty.

12-year-old Jason (Doughty) has a problem: he has school homework to do and the deadline is tomorrow. So, he needs help and who better to ask for assistance than his mother (Schubert), who reluctantly agrees. It is a science assingment involves choosing an element from the Periodic Table, state five facts about it and create a visual aid, illustrating that fact. Jason has chosen plutonium. However, the year is 1989 and there is no internet to save the day. No mobile phones either for that matter. So the two of them need to resort to old-fashioned solutions if they are to succeed.

This rather enjoyable and intriguing race-against-the-clock story brings the viewer back in time, a time where obtaining information about this and that was a lot more challenging and it explores this concept via a last-minute-homework situation. With a light-hearted atmosphere, the vast majority of the narrative revolves around Jackie (the mother's name) phoning a variety of people, among them friends, relatives, even poison control and in comedic ways, they gradually gather the required information.

It is rather interesting observing the ways in which people used to get information back in those days and this film effectively establishes a 1980s environment via the mise-en-scene, particularly thanks to the hairstyle, the telephones and the typewriter. And the electronic music by Bootsy Spankins is another factor that creates an eighties atmosphere.

Doughty's character is a simple young boy, naive, insecure and irresponsible, yet, he means well. Jackie is a responsible parent, an efficient and patient person who knows how to deal with difficult situations. Both actors make their characters appear likeable.

This short is about support, knowledge and working towards a target. Perhaps more crucially, it points out the significance of internet and how technology in general makes people's lives more comfortable and, of course, it shows how things were back then, how everyone managed without the precious internet.

A mother-and-son story on a mission to get all the information they need before time runs out. A fun and moving viewing that works as a reminder regarding life during times when technology was more limited.

A couple of girls working in a local launderette need a bit of a change of pace and decide to put on a last-minute party when the neighbourhood heartthrob comes in to get his suit dry cleaned.

Minnie (Ward-Drummond) and Leah (Gadd) are all washed up. Their life is just a series of cycles that go round and round and round without much in the way of reprieve, or fun, or excitement. They’ve been working in the launderette long enough to get to know the locals, as well some of their dirty habits along with their dirty linen, too. Peter (Fielder), the aging local kook, likes to drop in from time to time to see how the girls are doing, but sometimes he’s more trouble than he’s worth as his idiotic ways offer little in the way of actual relief from the drudgery of the days.

Today, however, Danny (Essiedu), also known as Mr London, has come in to get his suit dry cleaned, and the girls jump at the chance to hang off of him and shower him with praise and attention. Embarrassed by the fact that she has for some reason dyed her eyebrows pink, Leah makes up the excuse that they’re having an impromptu party that evening in the launderette, prompting Danny to say that he’ll come along. Cue a montage of dressing up scenes and catwalking in the backrooms, as the girls prepare for a night that they seem to have been waiting a lifetime for.

Laundreams is the baby of Amber Gadd and Evie Ward-Drummond, who have both written, directed, and starred in this fifteen-minute short film. Their camaraderie together is supposed to be the linchpin for the humour, and therefore the entire scenario, of the short they have created for themselves, and the film basically lives or dies off of how that humour translates to the audience. Helping them along with this, is Nanu Segal’s cinematography which tries to bring in as much colour and excitement into the grey walls of the launderette as possible, and Siim Skepast’s audio design, which brings us from the dull droning of the machines into the life and soul of the party as the music and the dancing get into full swing.

Sadly, a lot of what’s been written and what’s being said doesn’t ever reach the audience, as the humour is often too personal to the writers to really entertain anyone outside of the launderette. There’s a whole bunch of mumbling going on, too, that stops certain lines from reaching the ears of the audience and causes a break in the connection with the characters. The audio recording just seems slightly off when matched to the visuals, and there’s an off-kilter feel to the whole affair that only comes across as badly done, rather than funny or entertaining in any way.

Thankfully, most of the technical aspects of the film really pick up the slack from the writing and add a lot to the feel of the giddy day experienced in the launderette. The original music is sparky and fitting, while Gadd and Ward-Drummond’s direction throws in some nice shots here and there, of the girls at their most vulnerable, that are interesting if not entirely humorous. There’s a lot of heart that’s attached to the Laundreams of the girls, it’s just that some of it gets muddied in with the dirty washing and the rest of it, that in the end leaves the audience hanging out to dry.

Laundreams will be screening at BFI’s London Film Festival 2026.