RULES
2021 · 8m · USA
Directed by Jeanette Jeanenne
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic
A determined man sets out to break every unwritten rule of polite society — letting his dog defecate on someone's lawn, touching paintings in a gallery — exploring the tension between the rage of witnessing rule-breaking and the secret pleasure of doing it yourself.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Eight minutes of cartoon man breaking petty social norms to a swelling orchestral score. The premise is one joke and the comp stack (Don Hertzfeldt, World of Tomorrow) is doing it no favors.
Dialogue-free 2D animation amplifying mundane transgressions through orchestral score is a sturdy comedic engine — Jeanenne is working the Don Hertzfeldt register, FX-produced. Eight minutes feels correct; the premise is slight but the execution should sing.
Dialogue-free 2D hand-drawn animation using heightened expressions and overblown orchestral score to elevate mundane transgressions is the right tonal architecture for a 'pleasure of rule-breaking' premise. 8 minutes, FX/CAKE production; the craft is the punchline.
Reviews
A gently satirical and quietly profound statement about how unwritten social conventions maintain civility in society.
The 2D hand-drawn animation uses heightened facial expressions to perfectly convey characters' inner reactions without dialogue, while Robert Allaire's overly dramatic strings and piano enhance the dark humor.
Festivals
- Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival 2022
- Glasgow Short Film Festival 2023