This short film creates an interesting future world; women and children have all died, leaving a world of men who have morphed into some form of beast, driven by survival and desire. In this world two orphans have survived – Jonas and Albert – who are friends and unaffected by whatever caused the fall. Frightened by the men they see, they take refuge in buildings, and speak of legends and hopes.
In terms of the place, it is visually well presented, with a wide sense of emptiness which has occurred very recently – so beautiful buildings remain, but are desolate and probably not long for the world. In this lumbering beasts are outside while the children remain within. In terms of animation it has an odd softness around the images, but yet also uses that to contrast with the horror outside, so that when things move, they move well. I am not so sure that the conceptual creation of the world works as well; it feels too simple and too neat as an idea, and in terms of what it is used for, the plot is actually pretty simple.
I was wondering if there was gender politics to come from this, or a more human message, but actually even with developments they do not offer too much, and the ending seems more about the narrative than anything else. I guess there are ideals of love versus lust, but it didn't offer too much for my brain. It is the animation that is worth looking at, and the creation of the two central characters, since these aspects make the film worth a look, even if it is a bit disappointing that it did not do more.
