2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts

It's that time of year again! My yearly mission to watch all Oscar nominated short films. Each category is ranked from best to worst, followed by some brief thoughts. 

Best Animated Short Film

Unlike last year, all the stop motion dong got left behind in the short lists

Butterfly - This hand painted animated film is inspired by Jewish/French swimmer Alfred Nakache. I was not familiar with his story prior, but this short is equal parts moving and devastating - A

The Girl Who Cried Pearls - This is a really good piece of stop motion, but the story is already a bit thin, and the ending does nothing to help. It ultimately was a bit of a nothing burger. Also this getting in over the disturbing Playing God? Nah. B-

Retirement Plan - This is also a bit of a nothing burger but you get to hear Domnhall Gleeson's lovely voice, and that's really what it has going for it. C+

Forevergreen - The animation in this is beautiful, but seriously this bear is going for gold in the fuck around and find out Olympics. This getting in over Snow Bear is weird. This one fell a bit with my rating the longer I sat with it.   C+

The Three Sisters - I admit to laughing at one of the visual gags in this, but it really feels bare bones compared to the other shorts. C

Best Documentary Short Film

The Devil Is Busy - This doc follows a woman working at an abortion clinic and how they deal with the day to day protection of their patients. The risk everyone involved puts themselves in just to provide healthcare is astounding. She even knows some of the hecklers by name, and some of them have served time and still think they're better than these women minding their own business. A+

All the Empty Rooms - This film follows a journalist seeing the bedrooms of children murdered in school shootings in America. It's a very somber look and I hate that it made me wonder what I myself would do if I lost my own child to a school shooting. Something I've already thought about prior to watching this since that's how big the problem is. A-

Children No More: Were and are Gone - This doc follows a group of protesters in Israel who hold up photos of all the murdered children in Gaza. They cross check all their sources to make sure they are reporting accurate information. It's heartbreaking to watch, but one feels more like a news story than a doc. A lot of it is just watching these protests play out, which is powerful in its own way, but because of that it can't really compete with how tight The Devil is Busy and All The Empty Rooms are. B-

Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud - Brent Renaud was the first American journalist killed in the invasion of Ukraine and his brother does not hold back from showing you the footage he captured. At times, I felt a bit weird about all the pain they were showing of others when talking about the filmmaker's legacy. It just felt a bit awkward to me overall. C

Perfectly a Strangeness - This film is, I shit you not, about 3 donkeys wandering around an astronomical observatory in Chile. It might be saying something more than that, but if it did it went over my head. It was just nicely shot donkey vibes. C- 

Live Action Short Film

Two People Exchanging Saliva - This is a crazy short where kissing is illegal and slapping someone in the face is currency. You know you're rich when your face is bruised. It was very unique and seems to me an easy winner - A

 

Jane Austen’s Period Drama - I laughed my ass off watching this. It's not as unique as Two People Exchanging Saliva but it's so charming and dumb. A

A Friend of Dorothy - This was a lovely short about an unlikely friendship between a young man and an old woman who meet and share a love of acting. It's nothing new, but so charming. B+

The Singers - I found one of the characters in this to be super annoying and that brought it down a bit for me, but there are some lovely singers involved here. Very simple. C+

Butcher's Stain - This is about a butcher in Israel accused of tearing down hostage posters in the breakroom and it relies on every character not asking the most obvious questions. I found this to be really dumb, especially when it goes up against the other shorts in this category. D

Have you seen any of these? What did you think? Want to see my previous short film reviews? Click the "shorts" tag below!