Haulout (2022)

Haulout Review

Haulout is a 2022 Russian documentary short film directed by Maxim Arbugaev and Evgenia Arbugaeva. It is a phenomenal short.

A man waits in his cabin on the desolate expanse of the Russian Arctic. He perseveres to observe a natural event that happens there every year, but ocean warming is taking its toll. This is such a heartbreaking, immediate take on climate change that makes you feel extremely sad watching it and witnessing what the disappearance of ice has led to. The first five minutes are quite slow as we see the man preparing for the arrival of someone, but then the movie becomes something truly special as we see that his guests are walruses.

The scene when he opens the door and witnesses hundreds of walruses is an incredible one. It was both cinematic and unforgettable, especially in that one moment when he was face-to-face with one of the animals. It was a moment of staggering beauty. Same can be said for that drone shot that gives us a chance to witness the sheer number of walruses on this one island. The dialogue here is quite sparse, which was actually a good choice as the imagery does all the talking on its own here. The cinematography is fantastic and so is the editing, though I did find the runtime of 25 minutes a bit too long for this type of movie. But it was still engaging throughout and heartbreaking in its final images.