Awesome Short Films

After landing on a deserted planet, an astronaut finds himself stuck on the surface with no way back into his spaceship. Rok Andic’s animated short reminds us of the slapstick comedy of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, while Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie is the perfect score as Ben attempts to reboard his ship.

Too hyper? Too sleepy? Too fat? Too scrawny? Big pharma has got you covered. Chris O’Hara’s animated short film follows the story of one man’s obsession with pills, and reminds us that while some drugs really can be helpful, that becoming too reliant on them can be a slippery slope.

Cats and birds aren’t supposed to get along, but in the world of Aaron’s Animals, resident kitty Prince Michael has been raising a bunch of ducklings. But when one of the fuzzy little guys struggles to be accepted by his brothers, he makes a break for it, and falls in with a bad crowd. Best watched with Closed Captions on.

Phil is a skeleton. He quickly rose to fame on the big screen as a stop-motion superstar. Then, modern effects put him out of business. Michael Shanks’ (aka “timtimfed“) charming short film is a fun blend of live-action, animation, and VFX, and a loving tribute to the great Ray Harryhausen. Behind the scenes here.

Jalil Sadool & Adam Meyer of Steamroller Studios present a concept pilot for an intriguing animated series. Spice Frontier is a lighthearted and action-packed story about a starship crew on a mission to track down and recover the last remaining Earth spices in an effort to preserve our world’s culinary history.

Animator Junyi Xiao’s short film The Last Man on Earth Sat Alone in a Room has quite the warped sense of humor. It tells the story of a lonely man who spends his days sitting in front of his computer, and who makes quick work off an alien who comes seeking friendship at his door. But as they often say “karma’s a bitch.”

Jason Young’s wordless documentary introduces us to John and Nancy Little, a couple who spends their days enjoying retirement in the Nova Scotia countryside, and their nights performing a secret task for the RCMP. The short film stands as both a commentary on gun violence, and an intriguing work of visual art.

A man stops at a remote Australian gas station in search of a fill-up. But when he goes inside to enquire about the pumps, he encounters a truly perplexing scenario. Writer/Director Alex Feggans‘ offbeat short film starts out as unsettling, but takes a truly unexpected path along its way.

(PG-13: Language) A group of friends get together to celebrate their friend’s birthday with a shot of tequila. But when a secret is revealed, all bets are off in this The Dress Up Gang’s relatable short about booze, peer pressure, and brotherhood.

(PG-13: Language) After buying a “smart” microwave oven, a suburban family’s life is turned upside-down when their shiny new appliance decides it doesn’t like the way it’s being treated. Brandon Boudreaux’s offbeat short horror film will have you wondering if a microwave oven could commit murder.

Ernest Desumbila’s and Sauvage.TV’s short film packs in a whole lot of style, fantastic cinematography, and a cryptic but intriguing series of vignettes about a future civilization where people meet their doom as they face the inevitable in their monstrous and chaotic world.

(PG-13: Language) Eli Shapiro’s short film about a guy and his childhood friend is filled with uncomfortable moments, yet is completely relatable for anyone who’s ever had a “friend” who was so obnoxious, but you couldn’t get rid of them. Actors Sean Brannon and Will Cooper’s great chemistry is revealed mostly through improv.

Adapted from one of Max Aub’s Crìmenes Ejemplares short stories, this atmospheric animation takes us inside the mind of a man who finds himself annoyed by the endless sound of a clinking teaspoon in a coffee cup, and the extreme measures he goes to in order to make it stop.

Jossie Malis‘ animated short delves into a trio of stranger-than-fiction true stories about incredible coincidences which make you wonder if there really is some higher power playing games with humans like pawns on a chess board. (Thanks Rob!)

Two strangers, each living with a lazy eye, find themselves locked away together in total darkness for 10 days as part of an experimental treatment. As they descend into the dark, madness takes hold. Tom Hardiman and Chris Cornwell’s short film is packed with auditory and visual surprises – and inspired by an actual experiment.

(PG-13) Set 100 years in the future, The Seed of Juna envisions a post-apocalyptic world where Earth has fallen to religious fanatics. After being killed on Earth, a young rebel awakens on a strange planet only to face a whole new threat. Filmmaker Álvaro García Martínez envisions his CGI science fiction epic as a multipart series.

There’s a legend that says China’s Jade Emperor asked the animals of the zodiac to race across the country to decide their order. Filmmaker Law Chen created a bold, modern interpretation of this story in a Chinese New Year campaign for ICBC, but subsequently released it as a reminder to wear masks to protect our safety.

While on a ski vacation with his family in the Swiss Alps, a father experiences a series of unexpected and terrifying incidents. Writer/Director Jonas Ulrich’s haunting short film conjures similar feelings of isolation and fear that we experienced watching Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

“How did he get his license?” David Beukes‘ silly short film is about a dog who meets up with a friend and gives him a ride to the Post Office. This family-friendly, low-fi animation is just the kind of mindless silliness we could use these days.

Filmmaker Fabrice Mathieu is best known for his creative reimaginings of classic movies. But his latest short film is a standalone work about a mysterious afterworld a man encounters after his death. We love the collaged style of the visuals, and the surrealist environments inspired by the art of Marc Giai-Miniet.

Former Pixar animator Erick Oh’s goofy short film is packed with the silliest array of characters we’ve run into in a while. It follows the story of a naked hot dog on a quest to figure out his who he really is, and the other possibly edible folks he encounters along his journey.

(PG-13: Gore) A coyote miraculously survives an attack by a pack of wolves, but remains haunted by horrible visions of the carnage as he attempts to get back to life. Director Lorenz Wunderle’s award-winning short for YK Animation is a brutal and powerful tale of loss and revenge. This one’s definitely not for the kids.

Motion designer Jonathan Lindgren’s animated short film is a mouth-watering tribute to the art of making sushi. The combination of Lindgren’s sharp visuals, Luke Brown’s sound effects, and staccato voice work by Yoshi Amao, creates the perfect reflection of the precision with which sushi masters ply their craft.

(PG-13: Language) A group of conspiracy theorists convene on a cruise ship to meet one of their most steadfast believers. But as his crackpot theories start to show their cracks, something unexpected happens aboard the ship. Brad Abrahams fantastic short film has great performances and the perfect amount of dramatic tension.

We’ve seen other footage of empty cities, but Dayne Hudson’s short film takes a different approach, focusing not just on the stark visuals, but capturing the eerily quiet audio around Sydney, Australia during the 2020 pandemic. We’d be remiss not to mention sound designer and editor Mark Parry for his work on the piece.

A stoic and inflexible tree monster finds himself alone and depressed after a bad breakup. But when his ex drops his daughter off for a visit, his hardened shell begins to crack. Adam Rose-Levy’s video for Camel Power Club’s track Change It All is just the right blend of quirky and heartwarming.