Reviews for Skywhales

SKYWHALES is not half as clever as it thinks it is. The ending (which I will not reveal here -- you'll figure it out for yourself) can be predicted very soon - no "big suprise". Ultimatly, SKYWHALES suffers from the "THE-SIXTH-SENSE-problem" -- you know what's going on before the filmmakers want you to know it. Thus the emotional impact isn't as big as it want to be (even though I have to admit that the last image has something both beautiful und unsettling to it).
Another problem lies within the style of the film. Sorry, but SKYWAHLES looks like a cheap saturday morning cartoon. Furthermore, when you want a "mature" emotional response from the audience don't make your characters as nice, cute and wide-eyed as the aliens in this short.
The greatest strenght lies within the handling of the "dialogue" since there is no such thing. But even though SKYWHALES doesn't come with subtitles you still know (or should I say "feel"?!) what the characters say. It's the biggest achievement in this little production which tries far more than it can achieve.

Both beautiful and terrifying, Skywhales is a strange animated short that has no dialogue other than its made up alien language. And yet somehow you still manage to grow attached to the characters and "feel" what it is they're saying. The level of detail crammed into the world and culture within the short time frame is astounding. The revelation at the end of the short is both hauntingly ghastly and endearingly hopeful.