The Calling
2021 · 8m · Sweden
Directed by Frida E. Elmström
Genres: animation, fantasy, mystery
Tones: contemplative, dark, surreal
A small animal in an autumn landscape hears an eerie call in the distance and sets out on a journey to find its source — discovering something both frightening and familiar at the bottom of a well.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A small animal answers a call from a well—sounds like Grimm, feels like fever dream, but the execution is so restrained it almost vanishes into itself. Elmström's refusing to sensationalize the horror, which is either brilliantly stubborn or a missed opportunity; probably both.
The film's lineage runs through Nordic folklore and experimental animation, executing a formally precise journey-into-darkness with careful sound design and compositional restraint that places it squarely in the tradition of introspective animated fables.
The entire film hinges on Elmström's decision to keep the creature's perspective unflinching—never cutting away, never softening the POV—which transforms a simple well-descent into something genuinely unsettling on an indie animation budget. That commitment to the animal's unbroken gaze is the whole film.