L' Abîme
2026 · 2m
Directed by Yuuki Shimizu
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tense
In the intimacy of a couple, an unexpected discovery triggers a confrontation as brutal as necessary, as silences burst and guilt surfaces in a fractured relationship laid bare.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Two minutes of relationship implosion sounds like Sundance-approved therapy-speak, but Shimizu's refusal to resolve anything or even name the discovery keeps it from settling into predictable catharsis—there's something genuinely unsettling about a short that trusts silence more than dialogue.
L'Abîme inherits the fractured-intimacy lineage of Haneke and Koreeda with formal precision: the editing rhythm mirrors emotional rupture, and what could be melodrama becomes something closer to structural poetry through sheer compositional control.
The entire film pivots on a single choice—the decision to keep the camera locked on their faces during the confrontation rather than cutting away—which transforms what could be performative anguish into something genuinely claustrophobic and real.