Awesome Short Films

Filmmaker James Parris pokes fun at those 1950s and 1960s educational films with an etiquette lesson on how to properly use a sidewalk so you don’t bump into people walking in the opposite direction. But what do you do if there are three or more people coming at you, James?

This incredible short film, directed and animated by Duncan Hatch, takes us on a surreal journey that travels from outer space to a cubicle farm to a colorful forest populated with weird creatures. Noah Kowalski’s sound design and Tom Ippolito’s music deliver a sense of immersion that is truly headphone-worthy.

A Thousand Suns is a series of science fiction short films created by BlackMilk Studio and Macgregor, sci-fi fanatics tired of the remake and sequel cycle in mainstream media. Each short is under 5 minutes long, but they all have that imaginative spark and are wonderfully shot. The first six episodes are available at the bottom of this post or on YouTube.

This way-too-short film from Yeti Pictures and director Tony Zagoraios features a series of miniature vignettes inspired by classic movie scenes, including The Exorcist, King Kong, Jurassic Park, and more. The animation and modeling team did a great job making it look like it was filmed with models and action figures, but it’s all CGI.

In this animated short film by Job, Joris & Marieke, a narcissistic social media influencer suddenly becomes invisible and loses the one thing he values more than anything – the ability to garner attention based on his appearance. It’s a funny but sad look of the shallow nature of social media. In Dutch with English subtitles.

Movies and TV shows about space travel usually have a big budget for visual effects. Not so with this short film by Caroline Klidonas, who shot an entire short film about a doomed space mission without leaving her apartment. It’s the low-budget, low-gravity effects and Caroline’s commitment to the performance that really sell it. (Thanks, Rob!)

Filmmaker Jordan Studdard grew up with dreams of living in New York City. Now that he’s been there for a few years, he created an homage to The Big Apple with a wall-sized map of the city, dotted with tiny lights to mark locations made famous by the movies and TV shows that inspired him.

Created by writer and director SouthernShotty, this family-friendly animated short film tells the story of a girl born from a watermelon seed in the belly of a fallen King. But instead of following the same selfish path of her maker, she’s sent on a quest for a new home and a journey of self-discovery. (Thanks, Rob!)

This documentary short film by Matthieu Livingston introduces us to Robert Pammen, who paints London’s famed red telephone boxes. But nobody pays Robert to do this – he volunteers his time to help keep a tradition alive. He talks with reverence for those who built the boxes and the purpose they once served and shares a glimpse into his life.

LOL, ROFL, LMFAO, I’M DEAD. These are the kinds of silly shorthand we text each other all the time. LAMAR + NIK’s short comedy film looks at the real-world consequences of texting things we don’t literally mean. This is as close as you’re gonna get to a behind-the-scenes video.

“Some things don’t have words. So we have to be close enough to feel them.” A mother explains to her daughter how she came to understand the way her father expresses his love and support. Julian Curi aka Righteous Robot spent almost three years creating this paper stop-motion short film as a way of coping with his father’s passing.

(Flashing lights) Jacob Weldon’s gruesome horror short film BUG has a slick, neon-lit style inspired by the 1980s. But there’s nothing glossy about what happens to its protagonist after she gets bitten on her arm by a pesky fly. It makes us wonder if the bug was related to Jeff Goldblum’s infamous Brundlefly.

This charming animated short by 16-year-old CG artist John Torres looks at a day in the life of a robotic farmer as it patiently waits to harvest vegetables to put into a pot of homemade soup. John says his film “highlights the virtues of perseverance, mindfulness, and the joy that can be found in the simplest of tasks.” Created with Blender.

Actor and comedian Pauly Shore bears more than a passing resemblance to Richard Simmons. In this short film by Jake Lewis, Shore takes on the role with aplomb, celebrating Simmons’ boundless positivity, love for life, and ability to inspire others. It also serves as a teaser for Shore’s upcoming, unauthorized biopic about the fitness guru. (Thanks, Rob!)

(Gore) It’s not easy to come up with unique ideas for a horror film, but the short Rhyme or Die has done just that. The premise – a madwoman kidnaps five strangers and forces them to rhyme to her beats or face the ultimate punishment. Director Max R Lincoln and writer Alex Moran cooked up one of the most brutal reality competition shows yet.

Graham Mason’s silly animated short is basically what would happen if Dunder-Mifflin was a rock quarry, and the office staff was made up entirely of rocks. Instead of Jim and Pam, we get a duo of blobby boulders with a similarly charming and challenged work-personal relationship. Created for Adult Swim Smalls.

This award-winning animated film from École des Nouvelles Images drops us onto an island where a volcanic eruption threatens a flock of birds. As the cloud of dust and lava bursts into the sky, two birds try their best to save their eggs from disaster. The short does a great job of ramping up the tension while remaining lighthearted in its approach.

Skateboarding sensei Gou Miyagi is a master of the grind. Thrasher Magazine takes us to Miyagi-Do for a lesson in balance, precision, and style with an entertaining demo reel from the unconventional freestyle. If you never saw it, check out Gou’s classic video from Heroin Skateboards.

This animated short film follows an overworked woman who’s falling apart at the seams under the stress of everyday life. Can she escape the chaos? Writer/Director Sam Southward and a talented team of artists and animators bring the story to life with brilliant character design and a clever use of space and motion.

(PG-13: Language) Clara Aranovich-Valdés’ darkly comedic short film offers a unique spin on teen slasher flicks. When a pair of murderers show up at the same summer camp on the same night, they end up in a deep philosophical discussion about their life choices. Will Lagos and Jeremy Radin wrote the story and star as the killers, Kevin and Greg.

This science fiction short film tells an original story while demonstrating what’s possible with state-of-the-art computer graphics. Oscar-winning VFX artist Tim Webber of Framestore used Unreal Engine to create FLITE, which follows the story of a woman imprisoned in her hi-rise apartment building and the stranger who helps her make a daring escape from the tower.

This science fiction short film from Dan Ciraulo’s Dark Path VFX drops us into an encounter between a large spaceship and an unknown vessel. A group of fighter pilots is sent to confront the non-responsive craft and investigate its origin. But what they find when they get there is shocking. (Thanks, Rob!)

Finnish skiing channel Real Skifi created this clever short film as a tribute to the filmmaking tool known as the transition. Using a mix of edits, fades, and split screens, skiers are transported seamlessly between locations and times of day and swap places in the middle of rail grinds and other tricks.