Chuck and Fern
2026 · 15m
Directed by Henry Alexander Kelly
Genres: comedy, drama, fantasy
Tones: contemplative, tender, whimsical
Within a fantasy video game, a heroic swordsman and a D-list villain face an existential crisis but must push past it when a greater purpose calls.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A video game premise dressed up in fantasy drag—it's a bit too cute, too self-aware about its own constraints to actually break anything open. The existential crisis reads like a cute bit rather than something that actually ruptures the form.
Kelly demonstrates formal control in the tonal mix—whimsy and contemplation don't usually coexist, but the film earns its tenderness through deliberate pacing and a clear lineage to indie game-narratives that interrogate medium and meaning.
The single decision to make the villain's crisis the emotional spine instead of the hero's redemption arc is what lifts this from novelty into something genuine—that inversion, and the restraint to stay with it, is what transforms a high-concept hook into a film that actually moves.