NEVEN
2022 · 25m · Slovakia
Directed by Adrián Adamec
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
In a war-devastated world ruled by out-of-control machines, a young man named Peter — who lost everything he loved as a child — discovers an unexpected friendship with a damaged robot called Neven, finding fragile hope amid the ruin.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Post-apocalyptic robot buddy story sounds like the Netflix algorithm's fever dream, but Adamec's willingness to hand-build 200 VFX shots alone—rejecting every shortcut—is weirdly subversive; the tenderness actually lands because he sweated for it.
A formally disciplined meditation on loss and companionship that inherits from both the sci-fi sublime and the European art-film tradition of finding grace in desolation; the restraint in execution mirrors the restraint in emotional gesture.
One filmmaker, seven days, 99.99% solo VFX—and the film's entire emotional weight rides on the decision to render Neven's damaged movements with visible imperfection rather than polish, which transforms a zero-budget constraint into the core of its humanizing power.
Reviews
This isn't your run-of-the-mill android saga... there's a heartwarming story that might just make you sniffle.
An example of how sci-fi shorts should be done — the cinematography and CGI are the clear best parts of the film, with effects that blend seamlessly rather than overwhelming the story.