Need a quick brain break? We’ve got five short films that’ll transport you out of whatever winter funk you’re currently stewing in, and show you the very human perils of outer space and social media—as well as some more-than-human tales involving superpowers and the supernatural.
1) The Wheel
We’ve featured the work of Nikhil Bhagat before on io9, and his latest is a little slice of Creepshow-style horror. When an antiques dealer’s husband sends her a wind-up statue of an old-timey Ferris wheel, the novelty factor wears off awfully fast once she realizes there’s something...unsettling about it. The ride to the finish is extremely eerie.
2) The Lonely Orbit
From Short of the Week comes Benjamin Morard and Frederic Siegel’s animated film about a homesick satellite operator who learns the hard way how important it is to keep one foot in the real world—especially when you’re obsessed with keeping personal connections alive online.
3) Kinetic
There are some Smallville vibes at work in Kylie Eaton’s Kinetic, about a teenage girl who’s grown rather tired of having her incredible gifts exploited by her less-than-scrupulous relatives. The only bad thing about this Dust pick is how short it is, because after it ends you’ll be dying to know what happens next.
4) The Moon’s Not That Great
This energetic Vimeo Staff Pick from writer-director Mathieu Libman imagines that the first woman to land on the moon returns to find Earth’s interests have shifted...to Mars. That’s a disappointment to the astronaut, the ambitious director who was trying to make a movie about her life, and as it turns out, the moon herself. Also, there’s a bear on a unicycle. Just watch it!
5) One to One
Also from Short of the Week comes Matt McClung’s dark comedy about a guy who just can’t stop himself from stalking his ex on social media—to the point that he manifests an underpants-clad doppelgänger that physically appears in her home. It’s horrifying, amusing, and then...amusingly horrifying.
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