‘Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2025: Live Action’ Review: A Mix of Issue-Driven Dramas That Mostly Favor Subject Matter Over Storytelling

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In many instances, Academy-nominated live action short films often prioritize issue-based narratives over creative storytelling and filmmaking techniques, occasionally to a detriment. The 2025 program of five chosen pieces showcases a diverse array of global problems: xenophobia, child labor, extreme poverty, artificial intelligence, endangered species, and the horrors of ethnic conflict. Although the shorts may not always be particularly impactful, the issues they address will undoubtedly linger.

In the movie titled “A Lien“, directed by David and Sam Cutler-Kreutz, a family of three hastily makes their way to a green card interview at their local Department of Homeland Security office. However, what should have been a routine visit turns into chaos when an unexpected ICE raid occurs. Immigrants are apprehended without prior notice, and in the turmoil, an American mother finds herself separated from her Salvadoran husband and daughter. Desperate to reunite with them before they’re taken away, she must act swiftly against the ticking clock.

The film, reminiscent of the Dardenne brothers’ style, is handheld and immediate in its cinematography, keeping a palpable level of suspense through some plot twists that seem overly dramatic for the screen. The climax, however, is brought to conclusion with on-screen captions revealing that such round-ups occur regularly at DHS facilities across the nation. If A Lien (pronounced “alien”) sometimes feels like a thriller version of a public service announcement, it commendably sheds light on an issue that is likely to worsen during President Donald Trump’s second term.

As a movie enthusiast, I, Adam J. Graves, ventured far and wide to the bustling city of New Delhi to create my powerful short docudrama titled “Anuja.” The film’s namesake is an extraordinary 9-year-old girl who labors alongside her elder sister Palak in a sweatshop, working tirelessly for hours with just one 15-minute break during each shift. Anuja’s tough daily existence and bleak future are put into perspective when she’s presented with the chance to pass a test for boarding school. This opportunity stirs Palak to concoct a plan to gather the funds needed for this life-changing opportunity.

The film, while following a conventional pattern and featuring a generous dose of corniness, boasts an authentic setting with numerous real locations and two endearing non-professional actors, Anuja and Palak. Despite their difficult circumstances, they navigate life’s hurdles with intelligence and hope, offering a more profound message than the conclusions presented in the closing captions.

Title cards add a finishing touch to the South African short film “The Last Ranger“, leaving one questioning: Is it necessary for Academy voters to have the theme of every movie explicitly stated in bold letters? It’s worth mentioning that this well-directed drama by Cindy Lee is straightforward in its message and lacks complexity, as the title cards make clear (they reveal, among other things, that it’s based on a true story).

Nestled within a lush and expansive wildlife sanctuary, showcased through numerous aerial shots by drones, the movie titled “The Last Ranger” revolves around Litha, a young boy who unwittingly gets entangled in a conflict between a dedicated female park ranger striving to safeguard the endangered rhinos and a ruthless gang of poachers intent on stealing their precious horns. While the filmmaking isn’t exceptionally innovative, it does evoke at times the intensity of an action-packed advertisement for the World Wildlife Fund. However, the brief 28-minute short packs a punch with some disturbing scenes, such as the one where a poacher unexpectedly produces a chainsaw and commits an act that is hard to describe.

In this collection, the humorous or darkly comic take is provided by Dutch director Victoria Warmerdam’s high-idea technology film, “I Am Not a Robot.” The story unfolds in an office of the near future, evoking similarities to Spike Jonze’s “Her.” However, instead of the “her” being a woman in love with an operating system, as portrayed in “Her,” this “her” is a music producer working at a custom record label who encounters a roadblock on her laptop – a CAPTCHA demanding she prove that she isn’t a machine.

The surprising aspect is that she repeatedly fails the test, and what initially seems like a minor dilemma we often encounter while using the internet transforms into a profound struggle to verify one’s humanity. This film, although well-crafted, might be slightly lengthy at over 20 minutes, but it manages to hold its ground with a single recurring theme (or perhaps a single-minded robot). The skillful cinematography and set design contribute significantly to the uneasy feeling of the future we may face.

Among all the chosen shorts, surprisingly or not, the briefest one is the most powerful. Last year’s Palme d’Or winner at Cannes Film Festival, “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” directed by Nebojsa Slijepcevic from Croatia, manages in just 13 minutes what numerous movies struggle to achieve within two hours. It effectively conveys a genuine feeling of suspense and moral intricacy through a tale that unfolds entirely on a train halted by armed militants in the countryside.

When soldiers board the bus and request identification from everyone, they forcibly remove those without ID into a parked vehicle, leaving spectators to ponder their uncertain fate. A passenger discovers that the person sitting opposite him is an undocumented immigrant, prompting him to contemplate whether he’ll risk confronting the armed assailants to shield a stranger. Slijecevic shocks us with his ending, underscoring how ordinary heroes can sometimes be found in the periphery of dramatic events.

Filmed skillfully, this movie subtly evokes the brutal ethnic struggles that engulfed the Balkans in the ’90s, where once peaceful neighbors found themselves at odds due to nationalism and religious fanaticism. Despite its historically precise subject matter, which sets it apart from other short films nominated for this year’s Oscars, it manages to convey a powerful universality with great sensitivity.

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2025-02-14 01:26