User Reviews

How exactly does one tackle the heavy subject matter of coping with the loss of a loved one? There is no proper answer, because as challenging as it is, there are multiple ways to handle the message. What matters most of all is how earnest you are in terms of your topic as a whole.

In the case of If Anything Happens I Love You, actors/filmmakers Will McCormack and Michael Govier took the risk of painting a portrait of a tragedy through gun violence.

The result is nothing short of emotionally resonative, as they chose the brilliant art form of animation to communicate their themes of depression and memorabilia through effective body acting and a gritty color palette. Every artistic choice done for this film gives off the necessary effect of trauma that can come from the terrible news one can receive from losing someone close to them. Given that the film is shown from the POV of a husband and wife who have grown further apart from a horrific occurrence in their own lives, their shadow figures and lighting contrasts convey all their inner emotions better than any dialogue ever could. The somber score by Lindsay Marcus also lets each scene speak for itself through subtle harmonics to let the visuals speak more.

However, I think what makes this short twice as effective now is that it was released in the year of 2020. In this year of global viruses, death of innocent civilians happening more and more, and people growing more and more paranoid, this film comes off as a bold statement on how those who have been hurt the most. We always hear about tragedies and downfalls of people from unnecessary violence or outbreaks, but rarely do we actually see how individuals have been affected by the outcomes in the long run. It is more important now than ever to really listen and see what those who have struggled coping with the loss of someone they care for, whether you live in the United States or anywhere else. Sometimes, seeing something with your own eyes through art is the better way to understand how others may end up feeling from losing someone they care for than written words or articles.

If you have Netflix, there is absolutely no reason to skip out on this film. Sure, it may be short, but it conveys so much more than if it were a feature. Clarity through metaphorical storytelling is what makes these serious issues worth hearing out over all.

Okay but, like... that was amazing. It's worse if u go into it knowing what it about. I sobbed.

This short was devastating to watch. It feels like it is a story that will ring true for some many families and that is the absolute worst part.

There is a scene in the middle that is just so haunting and upsetting, it was really really emotional.

The art style works really well with it too. It is almost sketch-like and the colours are used so effectively to portray the emotions that people are feeling.

The score is also really great too. It works so well with everything else that I have mentioned.

I would definitely watch this. It is really effective and I definitely would expect it to get nominated next year for animated short.

This film may be short but it packs a punch. Incredibly needed today around the conversation of gun safety and grieving over those lost.

This short film is so amazing and so powerful especially for being 12 minutes. i was crying for like 30 mins after i watched this lol

The music and images create an emotional roller coaster that everybody should experience. Sympathy in the beginning, empathy in the end, all in 12 minutes. Well worth the watch.

Drawn and animated with great ability making the pencil one of the main character and as main tool to tell the story in a simple but powerful way. But I didn't like the choice to make 1/3 of the movie basically a videoclip of a pop song of questionable quality, it kinda breaks the atmosphere.

I don't know if I'm too emotional or the short movie is too emotional but I cried during all of it, it shows the emotional difficulty of loosing a child, and loosing a child because of one monstrous person who decided on morning he's gonna shoot kids in a school, where kids supposed to be safe. The fact that America still not banning guns is absurd. I can't bare in my mind that one day when I'll have kids, I can't bare it in my imagination that they can be killed in a place that supposed to keep them protected, I'm not from the United States but just to think of it, thinking about the parents who have lost their kids and thinking about the parents that their child IS the killer. And all they say is: "thoughts and prayers" like that would help. It won't and never will help. So to sum it all up, please, watch it, this is important.

This may be my fault but the song in the movie really isn't my style. I understand it's purpose, I think it was supposed to show that these events take place in the present and make the characters feel closer to you. But for me it just broke the vibe for an otherwise great film.

This short is all about grief, loss and family. It is pregnant and intense with a whole manner of emotions. The abstract animation style leads to an impressionistic work-certain sections are either dreams, memories or fancies-that cuts to the core of parents losing a child. On that level the film is accessible to everyone. However, I interpret the text around the cause of the child's death to be bluntly about the sheer access that Americans have to guns and the all too American *fear* that leads to our bizarre, misanthropic gun culture. I might be adding this to the short but I cannot but see this as simple condemnation of being armed to the teeth.

They put in 1950 by King Princess which sure, is a decent song, but for me it just ruined the atmosphere that would've made it good. It was pretty predictable. It's an unfortunate real thing that has happened but it was really cheesy.

So many have watched this short film and been hugely moved by it. It is an incredibly powerful story, and one that had huge potential to be so much better - for me, it just never delivers.

I am usually so emotionally invested in films, and often struggle to not evoke strong emotions during powerful pieces. For me, here, it just doesn't work - at all. I think the music, animating and overall concept aren't as effective as they should or could be.

This was the most spectacularly heart wrenching and devastating thing i've ever watched. the animation was so cleverly thought out and the imagery was so incredible evocative. Was crying for a full 5 minutes after watching this. truly amazing

This short film gave me chills several times in the brief span of 12 minutes. The art style, score, and visuals are all so masterfully tied together to make a heavy, emotional, beautiful short film that made me shiver and brought tears to my eyes. Absolutely breathtaking and also extremely devastating. I recommend everyone to watch it

My husband just put this on one night. Neither of us knew what it was about. It was so heartbreaking. I was crying and couldn't go to bed with that being the last thing on my mind.

The parents are sad. The reason behind their sadness is revealed. Now you and the parents are sad. The end.

I'm not used to watch short movies but I would recommend this one, it made me stop and think about all the families that go through what the parents in the movie experience.

A melancholic short film about a couple. Illustrated in mostly black & white watercolour animation with splatters of bright color to represent emotional mementos. The film had themes that you do not see represented often in cinema.

The film is about two grieving parents who try to find their love for each other and for life after their daughter was killed in a school shooting. The parents are both very sad and they hardly talk to each other. They recall memories of their daughter and find love again. The theme of the movie is loss. It was an animated short film so there were no actors. The music of the movie was very sad and they barely used any color. I thought it was a very emotional movie. The film was very gripping and I really liked what happened in it. It was heartbreaking to see how sad the parents were over the death of their daughter. The story is very poignant and it makes me think about how good we actually have it in Belgium. It had a very powerful message and I loved seeing that. I hope parents don't have to go through this with their child because the loss and pain is very great. Even though the film is about America, I still felt very close to it. You should be able to feel safe at school and that is clearly not the case there. The film was very beautifully made and it gave a very emotional but beautiful picture of the life of grieving parents. The music went very well with it and it was good that they had used few colors because I think that fits the atmosphere of the situation.

I definitely recommend you to watch the movie because it makes you think about things like that.

This was the strongest of the films nominated for Best Animated Short in 2020. It uses crayon technique, and is not so much animated as having images shift from one state to the next, depicting states of mind; that makes it a bit different in style, and the story it tells with no words save a text message, of a couple trying cope with the death of their daughter in a school shooting, is a powerful one. Each year I worry more and more that the best animated short Oscar is becoming more and more a technical one, showing what visual effect can be acheieved..... and each year, that seems the sole purpose of the short. Technical advances are important, but unless they offer us some way to connect with an emotion, a story, something human, then animation might as well remain stuck in 1906, wit Stuart Blackton's HUMOROUS PHASES OF FUNNY FACES.

This movie does not innovate particularly in technique, but it does have a story to tell, something to say.

I know that Americans love to commemorate such tragedies but I do not understand the pathos of such movies. The pain of the families who lost loved ones in the terrorists attacks is unimaginable, and the filmmakers shamefully used it for their movie, normalizing these tragedies and showing that 'families will not fall apart, they will get through it and will be stronger then ever'. Well, I can assure you that real life tragedies don't lead to such finales. So let's stop romanticizing aggression and focus on counteracting it.