Bain de minuit

The scouts

A 13-year-old discovering mermaid transformation videos could've been twee fantasy fluff, but Objectif Lune and Abieleiram seem to be doing something genuinely uncanny with that premise—the surreal + contemplative tones suggest they're treating metamorphosis as something stranger than wish-fulfillment, which is exactly the kind of subversion I watch for.

The fusion of coming-of-age rigor with whimsical tonality recalls a lineage of European art cinema's approach to adolescent transformation—Sciamma, perhaps—and at 2 minutes, the discipline required to hold mystery, fantasy, and contemplation in such economy suggests formal control worth examining.

Two minutes to make a 13-year-old's discovery of impossible instructions feel both real and dreamlike hinges on a single choice—likely in sound design, pacing, or how they shoot Serena's reaction—and something tells me these directors found it, because that's where the entire emotional weight lives.