Retirement Plan
2024 · 7m · Ireland
Directed by John Kelly
Genres: animation, comedy, drama
Tones: contemplative, darkly comic, melancholic
Middle-aged man Ray dreams about everything he'll do once he retires — learn piano, organize the pantry, take a hike — only to confront the unsettling realization that we're taught to postpone living until 'one day,' and by then time is already slipping away.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Oscar nominee from John Kelly with Domhnall Gleeson narrating an animated panic attack about deferred living — the kind of New Yorker-stamped competence that's hard to be cynical about. Born from a real anxiety, which keeps it from being only a parable.
An Oscar nominee voiced entirely by Domhnall Gleeson, born from the director's panic attack — this is squarely in the Don Hertzfeldt lineage of existential animated miniaturism, and the New Yorker placement confirms the consensus. Genuinely earned acclaim.
Domhnall Gleeson voicing seven minutes and twenty seconds of minimalist 2D, born from the director's actual panic attack — and now a 2026 Oscar nominee with 608K views on The New Yorker channel. Minimal animation only works when the voice and writing are this calibrated; clearly they are.
Reviews
Retirement Plan puts into words something deeply unsettling: the idea that we're taught to postpone living until retirement, until 'one day,' only to realize that by the time that day arrives, time itself is already slipping away.
A delicate animated short blending humour and heartfelt depth. The genius of the writing lies in how it strikes the perfect balance between humour and emotional depth.
Festivals
- SXSW Film Festival 2025, Grand Jury Award & Audience Award
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2025, Best of the Festival
- Animation Dingle 2025, Best Irish Professional Short
- Guadalajara International Film Festival 2025, Best Animated Short
- Bali International Film Festival 2025, Best Animated Short
- 98th Academy Awards 2026, Nominee