Second Person
2021 · 2m
Directed by Torianna Jacque
Genres: animation, coming-of-age, family
A kid's reflection helps them make some friends.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A kid befriends their reflection and makes friends—it's the kind of saccharine premise that usually makes me run, except Jacque's actually doing something weirder with the mirror logic than the logline suggests, even if it doesn't quite stick the landing.
Jacque positions herself within a lineage of mirror-as-metaphor animation (Švankmajer, KoHub), and while the formal execution is competent, the film doesn't quite earn the philosophical weight it gestures toward—more accomplished than revelatory.
The crucial move here is the sound design in those early moments—the reflection's voice isn't quite a echo, it's slightly *off*, and that subtle vocal choice does more to sell the emotional premise than two minutes of plot could manage.