Ranking the Nominees for Best Live Action Short

This week AMC is doing screenings of the nominees for the short film categories of the Academy Awards. All five of the nominees for Best Live Action Short Film are stellar and should be watched, here is the ranking based on subjective quality.

5. The Long Goodbye

This is the most likely candidate to win the category but at the same time is the weakest of the shorts in contention. “The Long Goodbye” tells the story of a Middle Eastern family that is preparing for the wedding of a family member that is being held in their house. The wedding is broken up when a paramilitary force, aided by police, raids the house purely because the family is Middle Eastern and executes several members in the street and kidnaps the rest. The initial half or so of the short is perfectly serviceable, however it ends up being a vehicle for a long tracking shot of Riz Ahmed (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Sound of Metal) performing a spoken word poem about the impact of racism on his life. It is a strong piece with interesting camera use and sound mixing, but it feels more like a YouTube video than a cinematic short.

4. The Dress

“The Dress” is an interesting story about a woman who strives to have a normal love life in a world that shuns her because of her physical appearance. The woman in the lead is a little person and does an excellent job in the role and, if the movie does have a failing somewhere, it is the fact that the short does end abruptly, almost as if it was an episodic comedy that needed to restore the status quo at the end of the episode.

3. On My Mind

Of all the shorts, “On My Mind” is the most heartbreaking and the best example of what can be done in a short film on a very small budget. It tells the story of a man who goes to a bar and just wants to sing the Elvis song “Always On My Mind” on a video for his wife. As the story unfolds, the audience is told the story about why this is so important for him to do and the actor in the lead just sells the role so well.

2. Ala Kachuu – Take and Run

“Ala Kachuu – Take and Run” is a very well-acted short about a young woman who strives to make her own life in the face of the shackles of tradition, before being abducted and forced back into marriage by her family. The lead actress does an excellent job selling the role and all the actresses who are stuck in this system are also excellent. The short feels similar to the classic Shirley Jackson short story “The Lottery” where heinous actions happen and everyone lives with it because it is tradition.

1. Please Hold

The strongest short of the year is “Please Hold,” a science fiction short about the prison industrial complex and the issues that come along with the automation of the legal system. It tells the story of a man who is arrested for a crime he did not commit, and is not even explained to him, and is forced through an automated legal system via a screen in his jail cell. The screen attempts to compel him into taking a plea deal before he can have legal representation, convinces him to take a job with the jail, and monetizes him every step of the way. While the automatization of the process is the science fiction aspect, the short does highlight the issues with the system, including the prevalence of plea bargaining and how little is explained to defendants during the process that ultimately dictates the rest of their lives.