This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the short films being covered here wouldn't exist.

Pivot

Pivot is an animated short about Ashley, a twelve-year-old girl who struggles with her mother’s ideas of what kind of person she should be. It’s Ashley’s birthday and her mother has pulled out all the stops with gifts: make-up, dresses, and other traditionally feminine items. These gifts are distinctly at odds with what makes Ashley comfortable. She feels most like herself when she’s playing sports and wearing pants. The birthday dress becomes a monster that personifies all of Ashley’s insecurities.

The film is mostly silent except for a few “hmms” and “ahs,” but there is no traditional dialogue. That being said, Pivot puts into words a conflict that many people had in their youth. The concepts of masculine and feminine didn’t make sense and the societal expectations that came with each could feel stifling and restrictive. Individuals of all ages should have the right to wear the clothing they feel most comfortable in. Sometimes it takes a battle with a demogorgon dress monster to be able to do so. Pivot is warm and cozy and it feels like a chapter ripped from my own childhood. Proof that, once again, filmmaking soars when shared stories are hyper-specific and universal at the same time.

Ninety-Five Senses

Ninety-Five Senses is a semi-scientific explanation of the five senses and a celebration of this miraculous, mystical thing that is life. Coy (Tim Blake Nelson), the narrator, takes the audience on a tour of his memories through touch, taste, smell, see, and hearing, and not all of them are happy. This reminiscence is a farewell: he is a prisoner on death row.

It’s always a wonderful surprise when a thirteen-minute film delivers a brutal, emotional gut punch in such a short amount of time. Coy’s lyrical narration is sublime, and the audience can almost experience the senses he’s describing. The smell of a vanilla candle as he flips through a Highlights magazine at his grandmother’s hair appointment. The smell and loud pops of buttery popcorn at his local video store and the plastic feel of the cases of movie possibilities. The harsh smell of fire as he commits the crime that would land him in jail. Ninety-Five Senses is thorny and complex, alluding to far more than it can cover in its short runtime, but that doesn’t mean the film is lacking something. Instead, it’s a jumbled, philosophical, and lonely reflection on mortality.

Motherland

Motherland is a journey to an unfamiliar homeland. Leah (Tiffany Chu) was born in Korea, but she was adopted and raised in the United States. Now an adult, Leah has returned to Korea to find her birth mother. She doesn’t know the language, the adoption agency is secretive, and she finds dead ends at every turn, but Leah is determined to learn where she came from.

There’s a desperation in Leah that oozes off the screen. She’s asking for something simple: to know her heritage and her biological family. This can easily be taken for granted when generation upon generation is easily tracked through genealogy sites or family stories. Motherland is authentic and earnest, a hopeful ode to an origin story. The film reminds us that when we get answers they may not be the ones we want, but that shouldn’t dissuade us from asking the questions. Gorgeously shot with a score that is equally mournful and hopeful, Motherland is a love letter to home and the multitude of emotions that go along with it.

Red, White and Blue

Red, White and Blue (I know you’re going to want to change this, but this is how the film is named) follows Rachel (Brittany Snow), a struggling single mother of two who travels across state lines in search of an abortion. It’s only once she arrives at the doctor’s office that the audience begins to learn the entire story.

Many will recognize Snow from her eccentric comedic roles in films like the Pitch Perfect trilogy, John Tucker Must Die, and Hairspray. The role of Rachel, on the surface, shows Snow in a different light. She’s a brunette wearing understated clothes and a mother, a far cry from the co-captain of a ragtag team of collegiate a capella singers. Yet Snow is at home here and Red, White and Blue is a showcase of her abilities. Snow brings a down-to-earth feeling to Rachel, one that at times causes the film to feel more like a verité documentary than fiction. It’s partially because this is a reality for many women, and nothing in the film is outside the realm of possibility. When the road trip finally reaches its destination, Red, White and Blue delivers a wallop of a gut punch that will simply break your heart.

All-Inclusive (Todo incluido)

All-Inclusive (Todo incluido) is about a family holiday. As the film begins, all seems well. It’s a fancy getaway for a family of three, but there’s recurring mention of a pending business deal that casts a shadow over the trip for eleven-year-old Fer. All-Inclusive unfolds from Fer’s point of view as he sees his family splinter from the power of illegal businesses in Colombia.

The easy comparison to make is to align All-Inclusive with last year’s Aftersun. Both are sun-drenched memories of young people who are watching their parents make decisions that they won’t fully understand until they’re adults themselves. All-Inclusive is more sinister in that Fer’s father is involved with Colombian drug lords, and the film shows the actions of these men through the eyes of a child. It’s a devastating way to present this reality, and it shines a spotlight on the many families in Colombia who turn to illegal activities because of the money it promises. All-Inclusive is a powerful, incisive look at what parents will do to provide for their children, no matter how dangerous and the lasting impact that has on kids.

Closing Dynasty

Closing Dynasty drops viewers into the heart of New York City and in the presence of seven-year-old Queenie (Milinka Winata). We first meet her on the subway as she’s asking for money for her school’s basketball team, but, as one of the people on the train points out, it’s the middle of the day on a Wednesday. Shouldn’t she be in school?

The audience never learns the circumstances that have led Queenie to this life of hustling on the streets, but they do see the myriad of ways she tries to make money. Queenie approaches her life with a sense of youthful exuberance. She struts down the sidewalk, singing to herself, seemingly immune to the harshness of her reality. Closing Dynasty places us firmly in Queenie’s shoes and asks us to imagine what our own choices would be. The film could be a prologue to a much longer feature, and even though Winata is only six years old, this certainly feels like the debut of a brand new star.

The Wake

As the title implies, The Wake is about death, but not in the way one might imagine. Walter (Isaac Kragten) and Martin’s (Zander Colbeck-Bhola) parents run a funeral home in their small town, and while the kids do help with the funerals, they also take advantage of their parents’ work. When a service is underway at the funeral home, Walter and Martin go to the deceased’s home and take whatever they please.

There’s an unsettling feeling in the very nature of the film, as though its DNA is structured to make the audience feel uncomfortable. Whether that’s because no one really knows how to understand death, because one of the items the brothers take is a loaded gun, or the foreboding score, The Wake is bracing its viewers for something tragic from the opening scene. It’s a tense, taut thriller (though “thriller” doesn’t feel like quite the right word) that delivers an ending viewers can see coming from miles away. In this case, it works in the film’s favor. It speaks to the feelings of desperation and helplessness that are present throughout society. Even though the audience can figure out what’s coming, there’s no way to stop it once the gun has been loaded.

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Oscar Qualifying Short Film Roundup: "Pivot," "Ninety-Five Senses," "Motherland," "Red, White and Blue," "All-Inclusive," "Closing Dynasty," & "The Wake"