Yuck! (Beurk!)
2024 · 13m · France
Directed by Loïc Espuche
Genres: animation, comedy, coming-of-age, romance
Tones: humorous, tender, whimsical
A group of children at a summer campground collectively find kissing revolting — until Léo secretly develops feelings for his friend Lucie and notices his own lips beginning to glow with pink sparkle, the film's visual metaphor for hidden desire. The story follows Léo navigating the gap between his public disgust at romance and his private longing for a first kiss.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Pink glitter glowing on lips whenever someone secretly wants to kiss, with sound design built from skin noises and rain sticks — Berlinale Generation KPlus is exactly where this should live and the visual metaphor is genuinely charming. Yes.
Pink-glitter lips as visual metaphor for hidden desire, with sound designed from skin noises and rain sticks rather than digital effects — that material craft married to a Berlinale Generation K selection is genuinely accomplished children's animation. Thirteen minutes; charming and well-made.
Berlinale 2024 Generation KPlus selection — pink-glitter-mouth visual metaphor for hidden desire, sound design built from skin noises, bubbling water, and rain stick balls instead of digital effects, that practical-foley discipline is exactly what makes Espuche's film register as tactile. Top-tier kids-animation pedigree.
Reviews
A sweet tale about discovering first love... the discovery, joy, confusion and heartache of life through the eyes of a child... brief and endearing, worth every minute.
Blending simplicity with depth... a light narrative full of complex meanings about growing up.
Festivals
- Berlin International Film Festival 2024
- Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2024, Students' Coup de Coeur / Special Mention
- Anima Brussels 2024, Best Short Movie for Kids
- Tallinn Black Nights Festival 2024, Best Kids Animation Prize
- Curtas Vila do Conde 2024, Audience Award
- New York International Children's Film Festival 2024
- Academy Awards 2025, Nominated — Best Animated Short Film
- César Awards 2025, Best Animated Short Film
- Annie Awards 2025, Nominated — Outstanding Writing; Nominated — Outstanding Special Production