Apfelmus
2019 · 7m · Austria
Directed by Alexander Gratzer
Genres: animation, experimental, satire
Tones: absurdist, contemplative, darkly comic
Two uniformed cave guards expose themselves as spineless, monosyllabic creatures while the animals around them reveal themselves as the true spiritual beings — across three vignettes of birds, humans, and polar bears.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A premise that inverts every hierarchy you expect — the uniformed, supposedly authoritative guards are hollow shells while birds and polar bears become the film's moral center — and Gratzer commits to the bit so fully it circles back around to genuinely unsettling. This is exactly the kind of subversive absurdism that makes consensus taste go 'wait, no, actually...'
Gratzer situates himself within a lineage of animal-as-mirror satire while executing with formal precision: the three-vignette structure echoes classical triptych composition, and the tonal control between contemplative and darkly comic demonstrates considerable editorial restraint and craft awareness.
The decision to strip the guards of vocalization entirely — reducing them to monosyllabic sounds while the animals occupy the spiritual space — is the single formal choice that makes the inversion work; it's a constraint that unlocks the whole film's meaning, done on what's clearly a modest animation budget.
Reviews
'Apfelmus' is therefore a weird little film. One that seems deceptively small conceptually, but manages to capture its audience through its bizarre charm and low-key absurdism.