As it enters its last weekend, the program of Oscar eligible shorts continues in its variety. From Canada, the entry Mercenaire is directed by Pier-Philippe Chevigny who also scripted and edited. An ex-convict is hired by a pig slaughterhouse through a social reintegration program. However, he resents being sent there and is desperately searching for other work. Meanwhile, his unsympathetic work colleagues only try to exacerbate his feeling of discomfort. Trying to contain his inner demons in this situation is therefore difficult. Local producer and actor Marc-André Grondin plays the lead character of David to compelling effect. Despite this, Mercenaire feels somewhat clichéd because it adds little new to a familiar premise.
The conspicuous setting of a slaughterhouse is more semiology than subtle or seamless. Also, the sparse script seems intended to draw us into an enigmatic and tense character study. On the contrary, the approach is more than a little short of achieving such possible intentions. Some scenes feel long and labored. The detachment ultimately undermines the otherwise professional lead acting, photography, and editing.
Entries from the UK for HollyShorts 2025 have also been many and varied. Previous entries reviewed were supernatural period films The Painting and The Statue and The Pearl Comb. Other UK short entries were more harrowing and very much set in the present. Largo was scripted and directed by Salvatore Scarpa and Max Burgoyne-Moore. It concerns a young Syrian refugee called Musa who is isolated in a UK seaside town. Feeling unwelcome, he still retains the mischief of childhood curiosity, energy and optimism. His parents’ whereabouts are unknown but Musa eventually comes up with an idea of finding them.
Ultimately, Largo is an acutely distressing and all too real snapshot of the refugee crisis. The altruism of the foster mother often comes across as a chore and pressurized in itself. Astutely configuring a letter she reads from his parents was faked, Musa makes his move. Bleakness aside, Largo is a compelling short film so powerful that stays in the memory.
Rock, Paper, Scissors is directed by German-born director Franz Böhm. He studied at the UK’s National Film and Television School and this short was his graduation project. Rock, Paper, Scissors is the unwelcome accurate take on war, and based on a true story. A father and son run a makeshift hospital in Ukraine after the Russian invasion. They face a tough decision when a platoon of soldiers approaches their building. The dilemma is how they will protect both their patients and themselves. A dramatic account of real events makes everything in the film plausible in its gruesomeness.
It also shows that in war there is not time for sentiment. Quick decisions have to be made for the greater good, or merely survival. It also means that mistakes of judgment can be fatal, with no second chances. These poignant factors helped Böhm’s film win the 2025 BAFTA Award for Best British Short Film. It should therefore have the word of mouth recognition ready for an assault on the Oscars.
Finally, some light fare, but Sunday Sauce is no less brutal. Director and screenwriter
Matt Campanella gives an anarchic account of a chaotic family dinner gathering. However, it also has a surreal and guilt laden edge to proceedings. This can only mean that someone is hiding something. As the tension stews, suppression, hidden desires, and Catholic guilt come to the boil. Sunday Sauce is camp, funny, energetic, hectic, and has a “big name star” in the form of Cathy Moriarty who has had a long career in film and television since starring in Raging Bull (1980). Fast paced and a visual feast, it is a worthwhile entry. The director himself also appears in a supporting role.
By Steven Yates
Steven Yates is a British Film Critic and Journalist. He has been based in Berlin since 2008 and attends the Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) annually. He is also a member of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics).
The HollyShorts Film Festival concludes August 17th.