Best Live Action Short Film: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
We’ve reached the last shorts-based category, and we’ve got a few strong live action entries to discuss. While I feel like a ton of qualifiable candidates were left out (the snub here is one of the biggest of the 95th Academy Awards), I feel like at least two of the shorts here are must-sees, and the other three won’t hurt to check out. I usually find at least one complete dude gets nominated, but I wouldn’t say that’s the case here. Which films got the most out of their stories in their short durations? Which works feel incomplete? Let’s rank the Best Live Action Short Film nominees from worst to best. Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: The Lone Wolf
I was certain — certain — that The Lone Wolf was going to be nominated for Best Live Action Short Film, and I had a hunch that it could even win the category. Nope. Somehow, this single-shot thriller that left me squirming in my seat and extremely uncomfortable from tension didn’t make the final cut. The Lone Wolf was my favourite short of any kind of 2022, and it ticked off all of the boxes that would make it a strong candidate for Oscars consideration. I think this is a massive oversight by the Academy, and one of the worst snubs of the year. Usually, making such a claim resonates with readers because they may be in agreement or will disagree entirely. Do me a favour and watch The Lone Wolf if you can. Form your own opinion. This short needs to be seen. Take my word for it: you may discover your favourite short of last year.
5. Le pupille
On paper, Le pupille looks the best with its nostalgic, pastel colours and hazy photography (that’s 35mm film for you). That’s because of the budget this short got through Alfonso Cuarón’s production and Alice Rochwacher’s stature as a filmmaker. Strip all of this prestige away, and Le pupille feels empty: like a bit of a story that is so much larger than what we experience (orphans in a Catholic boarding school that respond to the world around them). I like the film’s whimsy and youthful nature, but I think it is the flattest short here in terms of storytelling. It can be as aesthetically rich as it wants: a film still needs to fully connect in order to operate at its best level. Still worth watching, but you may find it slightly forgetful outside of its colour palette like I did.
Rating: 3.5/5
4. An Irish Goodbye
Some comedy shorts run into the problem of being a long, extended joke with no other connection, and An Irish Goodbye somewhat feels like this kind of film. What saves this dark comedy is how likeable the leads are, how well represented Down syndrome is (it isn’t used as a punchline or a narrative device here), and just how funny the short gets. It deals with one of the trickiest subject matters (death) rather well; I was actually howling with laughter during the “urn” sequence (I will not spoil it for you). I felt like the short kind of just ends like so many of its kind do (I guess that’s what Irish goodbyes are, if we’re being fair), but, again, it’s the lasting impact of our two main characters that sells this film for me, and I have a feeling that they will connect with you as well.
Rating: 3.5/5
3. Ivalu
This fifteen minute mystery works so well with the empty spaces around it, whether it’s the landscapes of Greenland that make us feel abandoned, or the short duration that forces us to worry about those dreaded ending credits approaching at any turn (how will it be resolved in time?). Ivalu is more metaphorically strong that it is in a narrative sense (which, admittedly, is a little thin), but I found myself quite invested with this short. It left me feeling cold in a good way: a realization that, sometimes, life really is an uphill battle we have with zero help from anyone else. I feel like Ivalu is a little underrated and worth checking out.
Rating: 3.5/5
2. Night Ride
The quality of these shorts now leaps exponentially. Night Ride, to me, is a thrilling, nerve-wracking film that forces us to stare in the face of bigotry. As we are confined to a street car for most of the short (an allegory that is quite fitting), Night Ride places us amidst sexist, hateful bullies that are both misogynistic and transphobic. We have a passenger that is being berated after being sought after, and a streetcar operator that doesn’t want to deal with society’s bullshit anymore. As anxious as Night Ride gets (and it’s the kind of distress that serves as a reminder that society needs to do better), there is a lot of hope once it resolves. Maybe not every case of hate will conclude this nicely (the opposite outcome is sadly true in most cases), but this night is our opportunity to see something else: hope.
Rating: 4/5
1. The Red Suitcase
For me, there is no contest. Of this batch of five short films, The Red Suitcase is the clear best option. This mysterious drama had my mind darting in so many directions, worrying about the central girl and her titular suitcase, of which is on the luggage carousel at a Luxembourg airport. We don’t know what is bothering her throughout these twenty-or-so minutes (it really isn’t a long film at all, but it feels like an hour in the best way possible: pure tension). All that we know is that something is wrong, and The Red Suitcase toys with us for its entire duration. It has a great, meaningful payoff after some brilliant twists and turns. The Red Suitcase is the best live action short of this category, and I don’t think much will change my mind between now and the night of the Oscars.
Rating: 4.5/5
Who I want to win: The Red Suitcase. Short and sweet.
Who I think will win: Sadly not The Red Suitcase. To me, either Le pupille will ride through the Academy’s gates thanks to its big names and wide reach, or An Irish Goodbye will continue to win the hearts of many and rise to the top. For now, I will say Le pupille, but I may change my mind closer to the Oscars.
Tune in next Monday for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee on every weekday.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.