Awesome Short Films

Director Michael Matthews’ short film will drag us into a deep, dark alternate underbelly of Cape Town, South Africa filled with supernatural forces, monsters, and government conspiracies. Based on the novel by Charlie Human, the film dops on Short of the Week on 8/29/17.

“It’s not a fake sport… It’s a real story that we’re telling.” Director Tim Grant introduces us to pro wrestler Cauliflower Chase Brown, who reminds us the action we see on stage is backed up by a desire to entertain and satisfy an audience with a heroes tale for the underdog.

(Gore) In Sotiris Petridis and Dimitris Tsakaleas’ horror short, a woman sits home posting selfies on her Instagram feed, and applies what she thinks is an appropriate hashtag. Unfortunately, a creepy maniac sees the tag as a mark of vulnerability, and uses it to choose his victims.

“I’m okay with dying of fun!” A group of gamers have been magically stuck in a medieval RPG arcade game for more than 15 years. One of them wants out, but his buddies pull him back in with a glorious quest. And the ability to slap NPCs.

(PG-13: Language) In June 2006, director Ruben Östlund witnessed a bank robbery in Stockholm. Östlund, the robbers, and other bystanders all reacted stupidly to the situation. He recreated the film using 90 actors in this pseudo-single shot short film.

A woman orders a robotic double to take on tasks she’d rather not deal with herself, but her friends are starting to like her proxy version better than the real thing. Topic’s short film is an lighthearted commentary on how technology is making us way too lazy.

Roy Kafri and Gon Ben Ari’s quirky and charming animated short follows a strange alien creature who hovers above Earth, and who quickly becomes obsessed with the most mundane of objects. The ending was a little cheesy, but it’s the journey that matters.

A garage rock band faces a problem interfering with their ability to play gigs. Every time they play a tune, some kind of mysterious energy rips apart their gear. A fun and truly inventive short film by writer/director Dylan Allen and Amalgamated Picture Co.

(PG-13: Language) “It’s now how you play the game. It’s why you play the game.” Vice Waypoint spoke with a couple of former inmates who played tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons while they were in prison to unwind, connect and stay sane. More here.

CANADA’s bright and punchy short film was inspired by David Bowie’s Sound and Vision. They made the video for Museu del Disseny de Barcelona’s hosting of David Bowie Is, a touring art exhibit by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

A group of kids just can’t get enough of a donkey’s unique ability in this hilariously warped animated short by Ben Meinhardt. The minimal, but gut-busting premise reminds us of Marv Newland’s classic Bambi Meets Godzilla.

(PG-13: Language) We’ve got enough problems with corporations selling guns to people who probably shouldn’t have them, but the humans are now doing weapons deals with a bunch of creepy aliens in Ray Sullivan’s short sci-fi film, based on Simon Roy’s comic.

(PG-13: Language) A “second-rate” scientist is asked to man an underground research facility, alone but for a test subject with a gruesome disease. John Lynch’s short film reveals its hand too easily, but its setting and tone make it worth watching.

Animator Matthew Darragh’s sweet and playful short film is a sort of lighthearted version of Castaway. But instead of becoming pals with a volleyball, our protagonist falls deeply and madly in love with a tree branch.

A woman receives a vinyl record that lets her travel through time. The lesson here is never mess with time. Or at least keep the jumps to a minimum. A critically-acclaimed short film by Job, Joris & Marieke.

A young and hungry fox learns that there is more than meets the eye in the supernatural forest that it calls home. Gravity Falls and Star vs. The Forces of Evil storyboard artist Sabrina Cotugno made this cute short film when she was a character animation student.

(PG-13, Gore) Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios is back with more outstanding nightmare fuel. Dakota Fanning stars in a story about a Arctic mining colony terrorized by an experiment gone wrong – an assimilating monster that makes the Borg look like Care Bears.

(PG-13: Language) Javier Chillon tense science fiction short film takes place aboard a spaceship packed with human cargo in cryogenic stasis. The ship’s skeleton crew decides to wake a critical team member when the ship’s engines malfunction, and a terrible truth is revealed.

From a spark, or a lifelong itch? From nothing, or anything? From the world, or from within? Andrew Norton farmed answers from both kids and accomplished adults – including David Lynch, Susan Orlean and Ray Barbee – and made neat accompanying visuals for each one.

(PG-13: Language/Gore) Animator Sam Barnett follows up his 2013 stop-motion short with another incredible episode about an evil corporation that enslaves and controls its workers with creepy biomechanical parasites. Help fund episode 3 over on Kickstarter.

Fernando Livschitz of Black Sheep Films messes with our expectations by swapping out everyday sights with wacky, unexpected, and downright impossible versions. We love the stubby airplanes and the two-wheeled buses.

The latest short from Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios is far more lighthearted than either of the two prior releases, but is still entertaining in its own right, as we find out what everyday life is like for God (and his butler.) Yes, that’s Sharlto Copley as the big man.

Someone’s Ex continues the adventures of Glenda, the Classiest Galaxy Tourist. She checks into an “Earthian” hotel, then things go South quickly. To be fair, that was partly the hotel’s fault. Either way dude, you and your ex need to get back together ASAP.