Hellscape
2022 · 6m · France
Directed by Alixe Devaux, Camille Leroux, Félicia Poggi, Clémence Lacoume, Lara Brière, Valentine Wilke
Genres: adventure, animation, fantasy
Tones: mythic, tender, whimsical
Enyo, a daring young warrior, descends into Hell to bring her dead mentor back. On her quest through the underworld she encounters Cerberus, the fearsome guardian, and unexpectedly befriends him.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Six directors collaborating on a mythic adventure sounds like a recipe for committee-approved mediocrity, but Hellscape somehow dodges the obvious—the Cerberus friendship pivot is genuinely unexpected, though the film's tonal whimsy keeps it from truly subverting the hero's journey.
The layered animation and compositional care show clear lineage to classical fantasy illustration, and there's real consideration in how the underworld sequences balance visual spectacle with emotional restraint—a formally literate take on the descent narrative.
The decision to make Cerberus vulnerable and companionable through sound design and subtle character animation elevates what could've been a rote monster encounter into something that genuinely lands on a small budget; that single tonal choice reframes the entire film.