THE BEST Short Films

Animator Lizzy Hobbs’ stop-motion short film pays tribute to the late Amy Johnson, a woman whose day job was working as a typist for a law firm, but whose real claim to fame was a record-breaking 9,500 mile solo flight from England to Australia in 1930.

(PG-13) A man experiences a breakup with his girlfriend in the worst way possible, as her entire Dear John letter is read to him by the electronic voice living inside of his iPhone. Craig Tovey’s short film is an amusing commentary on dating and relationships in the 21st century.

Animator Veljko Popović’s surreal short film tells the tale of a man who finds his life fragmented and disjointed after an accident with a deer changes his life forever. As his world comes apart, so do the polygonal shapes of his universe.

(PG-13: Language) In the not-too-distant-future, a lonely man finds himself addicted to an implantable product that allows him to have the constant companionship of a group of virtual friends. A creepy Black Mirror-esque tale from students at animation school Gobelins.

(Gore) In Nassos Vakalis’ not so subtle animated short film, a group of insatiable pigs are fed a feast out of a machine that turns anything into food. Surrounding them are cats that fight for scraps. But what happens when the food runs out?

A distracted young woman is running late for her train, when she stumbles onto a Rubik’s cube that’s been discarded by the tracks. But this is no ordinary puzzle – it seeks her help to find its own solution, and perhaps bring meaning to its life.

A boy with lightning powers and his ice cat best friend have adventures on an alien planet. Koji is a proof-of-concept short film made by Studio Mir, the animation company behind Netflix’s Voltron, The Legend of Korra, The Boondocks and more.

Evan and Marceline have had a great evening so far. The thing is, Evan hasn’t had any in a while so he’s nervous about how he will perform, should it go there. Turns out he was right to be scared… just for the wrong reasons. Henry Jinings’ short film is quite the ride.

It’s high noon. Overwatch‘s sharpshooting bounty hunter gets his time to shine in Blizzard’s latest animated short film. He cases a train heist, hoping to retrieve a special crate inside. But someone got there first, and it’s an old friend of his.

Andrew B. Myers‘ experimental short film uses a combination of animation techniques to fill the frame with dozens of tiny objects constantly in motion. There’s so much going on that you’ll need to go back and watch it multiple times to catch all of the neat little details.

(PG-13: Language) Welcome to Loaftown, an unusual place where generally absurd stuff happens all day long. If you like asdfmovie’s sense of humor, we think you’ll enjoy Christopher Rutledge’s animated short too. Kids, be sure to check out The Fun Zone!

(PG-13) A man stumbles onto a sick and dying squirrel during a walk in the park, and can’t decide what to do. Writer/director/editor Bobby Miller’s darkly comic short film reminds us that every living thing deserves love and compassion.

While driving home to visit his daughter, a man tragically hits another child on a dark country road. Animator Joe Loftus’ highly atmospheric animated short chilled us to the bone with its stark imagery and incredible sound design.

A man offers to house sit for a friend, but when he shows up he finds out he’s expected to take care of her pet as well. But Mister Biscuits isn’t exactly your everyday domesticated animal. Tom Levinge’s amusing short film is a real charmer.

Between traffic, pollution, and the cost of owning a car, riding a bike is often a better way to get around. Oscar Boyson and Erin DeWitt created this lighthearted short using scenes from movies to dissuade us from driving cars, and instead to get out and start pedaling.

Directors Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas of TAIKO Studios present a heartfelt and beautifully animated short film about the trials and tribulations of a girl who hopes to grow up one day to become an astronaut.

“Imagine a world with no language, only feeling. Who then would be the most different?” Dan Mace collaborated with 100 filmmakers, each from a different country, to make this beautiful short film about connecting to each other.

Audio-visual artist Conner Griffith presents a triptastic experimental short film which bends time and space much in the way that a Christopher Nolan film might. We kept expecting the little twins from The Shining to turn up in that long hallway.

Great Big Story’s short profile of master blacksmith Yasuhiro Hirakawa, “the only traditional scissor maker left in Japan.” It takes him one week – working 10 hours a day – to make his bonsai scissors, which can sell for as much as $32,000.

While fillmakers Robin Pogorzelski and Simon Bourrat were in Nepal working on the documentary Everest Green, they shot this short film, which is packed with beautifully lit and composed vignettes, each of which could be a still photograph hanging on a gallery wall.

(PG-13: Language) A woman finds herself stuck at a red light that never seems to want to change in this surprisingly tense and emotive short by writer/director/editor Sam Benenati. It’s a fantastic example of how less can sometimes be more in filmmaking.

Have you ever had the urge to touch a fire, just to see how it would feel? How about slapping the heck out of a noisy commuter? Film student Anna Mantzaris gives life to those and more sociopathic urges in this darkly comic animated short. Bill Burr would love this.

(PG-13: Language) Erik works at a bakery during the nighttime. What little time he spends with his family are awkward, if they notice him at all. His only source of joy is a late-night radio joke show. Kristian Håskjold’s short film is a heartbreaking look at depression.

A comic book superhero springs to life from the flat pages of his book when he sees a damsel in distress (and popping out of dis dress) in this lighthearted, wonderfully-animated stop-motion short film by director Victor Haegelin.