User Reviews

Look At Me Only is on YouTube as a film made for college, and is there without subtitles... but you don't need them at all. It's pretty expertly done, as far as pure visual storytelling goes, kind of being effortlessly engaging and surprisingly sweet in a way that reminds me of those amazing old Pixar shorts.

It seems to be one thing, and pivots cleverly. It played me like a fiddle, and I think I generally liked where it ended up going. It's surprising, strange, and ultimately moving, and very honest, I think, in how it looks at relationships and how one can perceive such a thing as being different than what it in actuality might be.

Setting just about the whole thing from the point of view of one (or two... three if you count the ending) character(s) was clever, both in making the visuals unique and for driving home what this was inevitably about. It feels a little like a bite sized animated rom-com at first, but then gets much more psychological. It's odd and uneasy at times, but I think it ended up being pretty great.

A man and woman sits in a pet café in Japan. The man is distracted by a woman at another table, and the guinea pig which is in front of him, while his girlfriend is trying to talk to him, and becoming increasingly irate about him not paying attention.

This short is a modern relationship fable about mindfulness, and being present in the moment. It is a relevant and emotive topic because it captures the reality of life, and shows the consequence of it. The reaction of the girlfriend is amplified to try and make her seem unreasonable - and some elements of the film she is being; this allows us to 'side' with the man, even though he is looking at other girls, daydreaming about a new fresh relationship. As the film progresses we see a nice twist where we understand the situation better. (SPOILERS). The pet is actually the man's phone, and his playing with it is now understandable. The opening scenes of the film now make more sense, as we see the phone essentially eating memories so that they are images not real things.

The impact of the girlfriend is now clear, and the film ends on a hopeful note for them, even though the tale is mostly cautionary. Since the message is quite simple, the way it plays it out is important and well done to keep it interesting. The animation (soft stop-motion) is engaging in how different it is but yet still retaining some of the Japanese elements in terms of style. It flows well and has some good transitions. In the end, the message is simple but the clever structure and meaning within the delivery makes it more engaging and more likely to hit home.