Wilem
2026 · 10m · UK
Directed by James Papper, Bárbara Oliveira
Genres: animation, comedy, coming-of-age
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, humorous
Wilem is a sensitive Gen-Z barbarian prince and reluctant heir to the throne in a brutal fantasy kingdom, who would rather play Village Destroyer VI with his best friend Finn than join his parents in battle — until his 16th birthday forces him to confront his destiny.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A coming-of-age film that decides absurdism and dark comedy are the honest language of adolescence—refuses the sentimentality trap and lets the weirdness breathe, which is exactly when these stories actually hit.
The animation carries formal sophistication in its restraint; Papper and Oliveira situate themselves in a lineage of character-driven animation that trusts visual storytelling over exposition, with editing that respects the breath between jokes.
The decision to anchor absurdist humor in genuine emotional specificity—letting the darkly comic tone serve the character's actual interior life rather than undercut it—is what transforms a promising premise into something that lands.
Reviews
A very creative, clever new animated short film to enjoy featured in Adult Swims' "Smalls" series of short film creations. It's always worth watching entirely original animation like this.