This Time Away

Timothy Spall stars as a cranky older man whose wife has died. He has a dislike of everything except drinking and pushes his daughter. However, his life is changed when he catches the neighborhood kids beating up a service robot. He chases them away...and now the robot won't leave him. It seems, like it or not, he has a new friend.

The story is okay and has a lot of familiar story elements. However, despite the story being lukewarm, the graphics were incredible and I was amazed at the robot and how real it looked. It's not surprising considering the story was written and directed by Magali Barbé--who has many visual effects credits on IMDB. Well worth seeing even if the story offers little in the way of surprises, as it really looks incredible.

It's not often I would give a 10 star rating but this Short Film was absolutely wonderful, with nothing to fault.

The storytelling was clean, with no superfluous dialogue or wasted images.

Timothy Spall played the main character to perfection; loneliness and taciturnity conveyed in a short 13 minutes, something many full length films are unable to duplicate.

There is an element of sci-fi via the 'robot', however this doesn't overshadow the storyline or Timothy Spall's excellent performance.

This is a heart-warming and subtly emotional film, that is easily watched more than once.

Always loved Timothy Spall who's done quiet a few diverse characters in his time. Here again is a believable character that most of us of his generation will surely recognize, either through our own experience or someone we know. This is a great little tale, simple and with much feeling, and a nice ending to make you think about, family, those we have lost and maybe how we can move on with our time - at least that my take on it anyway, so I rate this highly indeed.

Full review:

There are a great many works about robots and androids. Some talk about those who rebelled against people, others about those who dream of becoming a real person. But there are also works where robots just help people in everyday activities. This short film is one of them.

The graphics, as always, are excellent, the robot is an interesting character, whose feelings are felt even if he has no emotions or speech. The ending is very unexpected. At the end there is a good message that you should respect your relatives, regardless of their character or lifestyle. Unlike "Disguise", this short film can be watched more than once.

The old man character may be a bit annoying at first viewing, but you'll quickly get used to it and even empathize with him.

Briefly:

Good points:

• Great graphics
• Robot character
• Great ending
• Good message
• Rewatchability

Bad point:

• The main character may seem annoying at first viewing.

I admit, the ending caught me by surprise and wasn't what I expected. A remarkable and impactful short film, can be found on DUST Youtube channel. Worth the 13m watch.