An old owl lives alone, having dedicated her life to pure religious living for her God. As she nears the end of her life she reflects on these decisions with a certain amount of regret that they appear to have led her to live her life alone.
Although there is a lot to say about the plot of this short film, it is hard to start there when the animation is so impressive. Delivered in stop-motion, the film is so natural looking in terms of its movement, its light, and its attention to detail, that at times I almost forgot it was stop-motion because the word "stop" seemed in conflict with the fluidity I was seeing. I'm a sucker for this type of animation anyway, but it is endlessly impressive when done really well - and this is done hugely well. As I've often felt with great stop-motions, I was impressed by how the animation is only the delivery - the writing and characters are very well done too (if I ever managed to make a stop-motion animation, you can be assured it would not even be as good as Ben's in Parks & Recreation).
Here the plot is both simple and complex; on one hand it is as simple as a repressed spinster looking to release a life of pent up passion, but at the same time it is a touch more than that because it brings in the detail of the religion, the sadness of some aspects, the humour of others, and it makes for a complete picture with shading and detail - again, very similar to what the animation itself does. The manner of the telling makes it easy to follow the character on her journey, even if at times it can be a bit too on the beak, and then at others it is a flight of fancy very open to interpretation. Both work though, within the wider span of the film.
Very impressive short film, in a range of ways.
