PAR-DON
2026 · 2m
Directed by Fabian Drahonnet
Tones: contemplative, tender
Cale keeps fleeing his responsibilities and, for his partner Dona, the limit has been reached; the film follows the couple as he searches for the right words to make amends and restart on a healthier basis, around the simple act of asking and granting forgiveness.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A two-minute apology wrapped in soft focus—exactly the kind of sentiment-first approach that makes most shorts feel like Hallmark cards. The premise is so earnest it almost loops back to interesting, but Drahonnet doesn't seem interested in destabilizing the reconciliation fantasy, which means he's just another guy romanticizing the work of being forgiven.
Drahonnet situates this modest domestic moment within a lineage of intimate European cinema—the tender formal restraint recalls early Koreeda, though the execution here feels more sketch than fully realized. The contemplative pacing is assured, but the film risks dissolving into affect without the structural rigor that would elevate it beyond a perfectly composed study.
The decision to let the apology live almost entirely in Cale's face—those micro-shifts between shame and hope—rather than in dialogue is what makes this work; Drahonnet trusts the camera to do the emotional heavy lifting, and in 120 seconds that specificity transforms a familiar relationship beat into something that lands.