"Weekends" is an American short film from 2017 that has no spoken language, so you can watch and enjoy it wherever you are from. The writer and director is Trevor Jimenez and he managed to win a great deal of awards for this one and score even more nominations and the highlight is probably that it did get in at the Oscars and thanks to its strong win/nomination ratio and also the recent Annie Award win, it may be the best bet to upset Pixar's genuinely mediocre entry Bao this year. I still don't think it will happen though, but we shall see. Now for the film itself, it is one of these movies that yu have to watch at least twice and still won't know a whole lot that is going on in here. And I am not just talking about the really big metaphors like the dream sequence involving the candleman that burns everything down eventually or the red horse, but also minor moments. My favorite parts were probably the ones when the kid moves from father to mother and back because this is what the title refers to. In these scenes, pay attention to how neither parents moves only one step with or in the direction of the boy which I found truly sad. The big tree between them also shows how there is probably absolutely no more talking going on between these two. The new man in the woman's life may be one possible explanation. But it is not important to find out about the details. I must say it took a little while till I began appreciating this movie. The loud music early on isn't helping for me personally and the animation style is also one that you need to get used to. But the melancholy eventually takes over and draws you in. The best example is how the boy has no mouth, so you never see him smile, even in these more fun moments like when he jokes around with his mother while they are painting a room. And even there the fun needs to start with the boy, not the parents really. There is a whole lot more I could write about this film. I think I would be fine with this one winning the Oscar as honestly I'd be fine with almost anything except Bao, but my favorite is still the one about the girl going to the moon. Now that one is even more unlikely than this one here. But "Weekends" is probably my second pick. So good luck to Jimenez that he can pull off the upset. His work here is certainly a definite contender for deepest and most meaningful (animated) short film from 2017. And all that in only 15 minutes. Go see it, but don't take your very young kids with you. This is a prime example of animation for grown-up, not just because one actually genuinely creepy dream sequence that I did not see coming this way.
Review of Weekends
