Broken: Rock, Paper, Scissors
2013 · 5m · Estados Unidos
Directed by Bryan Locantore, Gang Maria Yi, Garrett O'Neal
Genres: adventure, animation, fantasy
Tones: theatrical, whimsical
When Rock meets the magical Paper, it is love at first sight. But the evil Scissors threatens Paper, and Rock must stop him at any cost to save what he loves most.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a children's fable wrapped in a love story wrapped in a game-theory absurdist joke—which sounds clever until you realize the film doesn't actually *do* anything subversive with any of those layers, just leans on the premise being weird and calls it a day.
A formally playful piece that understands its debt to both animated traditions and allegorical storytelling, executing the conceit with theatrical precision and a clear sense of tonal command throughout its runtime.
The real magic here is how the animators use negative space and color saturation to make abstract game-pieces feel genuinely imperiled—one specific choice with the Paper's luminescence, and suddenly you're emotionally invested in a rock's heartbreak.