Bad Seeds (2021)
Bad Seeds Review
Bad Seeds is a 2021 animated short film animated and directed by Claude Cloutier. It’s a solid artistic experiment.
The short depicts a surreal modern-day fable where two carnivorous plants, which can change shape like chameleons change colors, would rather fight over flies than work together to survive. Growth is intertwined with rivalry; evolution with competition, resulting in a startling conflict littered with references to the Western, the Cold War, board games etc. The movie is all about war and competition, but it just references all of these historical figures instead of giving any commentary about it.
The animation is gorgeous. It is hand-drawn and reminiscent to the works of 19th century drawings, in particular those that belonged in novels. The black-and-white charming look to it felt timeless and beautiful. The attention to detail is also mesmerizing and the score is quite good. The movie is elegant and artistic, but it needed a stronger story or thematic resonance to make it even stronger.
Bad Seeds lacks a proper plot, but at least the animation is absolutely gorgeous and timeless in its quality.
My Rating – 3.7
