All 15 of the Oscar-nominated short films, reviewed

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This year’s Oscar nominees for short films span three different categories, showcasing a wide range of topics, artistic approaches, and emotional tones. They demonstrate that short films don’t have to be limited in any way, despite their length.

Awards

The 98th Academy Award nominations are out! ‘Sinners’ received the most nominations, with a total of 16. You can find the complete list of nominees for the 2026 Oscars here.

Live-action films this year offer a variety of styles, with several drawing inspiration from classic stories and featuring strong acting. While Lee Knight’s “A Friend of Dorothy” is fairly direct in its portrayal of how a lonely woman affects a young, closeted boy, Miriam Margolyes and Alistair Nwachukwu deliver wonderfully funny and heartwarming performances. “Jane Austen’s Period Drama,” created by Steve Pinder and Julia Aks (who also stars), is a clever and lighthearted take on Austen’s work, designed to showcase their comedic talents and hopefully lead to a full-length film. The cast perfectly captures the playful spirit needed to make the film’s central premise truly funny.

Two films come close to greatness but fall slightly short in resolving their central conflicts, though both are boosted by strong performances from their lead actors. Meyer Levinson-Blount’s “Butcher’s Stain” tells a compelling story about a false accusation against a Palestinian butcher, but suffers from weak direction and an extraneous storyline, though Omar Sameer delivers a powerful performance. Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh’s black-and-white film, “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” is a visually striking but uneven exploration of intimacy and violence – where kissing is forbidden and slapping is a form of exchange – and benefits from the captivating and unrequited chemistry between stars Zar Amir and Luana Bajrami.

My personal favorite is Sam A. Davis’ interpretation of Turgenev’s short story, “The Singers.” It’s a likely winner because Davis beautifully captures the story’s emotional core, transforming a dull barroom into a place filled with genuine feeling through powerful and moving vocal performances.

Award-winning photojournalist Brent Renaud, who was killed in Ukraine in 2022, was motivated by covering conflict. However, his brother Craig’s memorial film, “Armed Only With a Camera,” feels distant and reads more like a collection of Brent’s assignments than a deep look at the risks he took. A more powerful and memorable documentary is “The Devil Is Busy,” directed by Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir. It portrays a day at a women-run abortion clinic in Georgia, presenting it as a vital, last-resort healthcare facility that relies on determination, kindness, and faith. You won’t easily forget Tracii, the clinic’s head of security, who acts as both a protector and a guide.

Alison McAlpine’s delightful new film, “Perfectly a Strangeness,” is a captivating documentary featuring three donkeys who stumble upon a series of hilltop observatories in a remote desert. It beautifully blends the world of science with the beauty of nature, offering a charming and visually stunning look at discovery, both on our planet and beyond. Hopefully, this imaginative film will inspire the Academy Awards to acknowledge more creative nonfiction works in the future.

Animation truly comes alive when it creates imaginative worlds, and Konstantin Bronzit’s silent (but not quiet) comedy, “The Three Sisters,” is a perfect example. While it doesn’t borrow from Chekhov – despite the presence of seagulls – it shares a similar playful Russian sense of humor and the inventive spirit of Charlie Chaplin. On a different note, Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears’ sweet film, “Forevergreen,” tells the story of a caring tree, a wandering bear, and an obsession with potato chips. Though the film’s message isn’t entirely clear, it’s a delightful and environmentally-minded adventure.

With so many strong submissions, it’s hard to pick a winner, but John Kelly’s “Retirement Plan” really stands out. It’s funny and relatable, featuring Domhnall Gleeson narrating the story of a man trying to achieve his goals after middle age. The animation style—simple, dryly humorous, and subtly colored—highlights a deeper, more bittersweet truth about life. Ultimately, it’s a refreshingly honest and entertaining contrast to overly sentimental graduation speeches.

The beautifully crafted stop-motion film, “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”, is a clever and touching story about desire, selfishness, and fate. It centers on a rich grandfather recreating his difficult childhood in 1800s Montreal, drawing inspiration from the novels of Charles Dickens. Filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski expertly blend the charm of a fairy tale with a more sophisticated, knowing tone, making this film particularly captivating.

Of all the films I saw, Florence Miailhe’s “Butterfly” resonated with me the most. It beautifully depicts the final swim of Alfred Nakache, a French-Algerian Jewish athlete who competed in the Olympics both before and after the Holocaust. The film uses fluid, painterly animation and evocative sounds to take us through moments of community, hardship, success, love, and loss, all experienced during a single day in the ocean. Throughout, water serves as a constant symbol of refuge and the power of life to regenerate.

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2026-02-21 02:31