The Last Anomaly

Heaven or Hell? Given the choice, it’s pretty obvious what most of us would go for. But if your place in a blissful afterlife meant eternal fiery damnation for your soulmate, would you swap places? In writer/director Hamish Downie’s curious animated short The Last Anomaly, this is exactly the conundrum poised to Daniel (Yeend) when he comes face to face with The Entity (Loau).

The Entity, it seems, is at a loss because Daniel’s mortal existence has resulted in a rare occurrence where he is “not bad enough for Hell but not good enough for Heaven”. So, lucky Daniel gets to choose for himself, obviously opting for the latter. But things get complicated when he realises that life after life won’t mean a thing without his beloved Joshua (Bodie), who in order to restore the balance would be condemned to the other place. Thus begins a tangle between the two to determine who should go up and who should go...well...the other way.

The Last Anomaly is an interesting take on morality, love and the meaning of (after) life, one that’s strengths lie in its unique and distinct presentation which amplifies what is a concise but otherwise simple narrative. Daniel and Joshua’s tale of sacrifice in the name of love itself is fairly cut-and-dry, a straight road of back-and-forthing between the two with no real bumps or turns, thankfully meaning that the film tells its cogent story clearly and soundly from start to finish, but it also means that there isn’t much in the way surprises or intrigues for audiences to enjoy either. In fact, once we’ve arrived at the film’s key plot point, The Last Anomaly doesn’t really take any opportunities to elevate its narrative from there. Again, it doesn’t ever stagnate either, but much like Daniel and Joshua, the film then finds itself in a bit of limbo with no real indication on how to move forward.

But a lot of effort and skill has been put into the films imaginative cut-paper, stop-motion delivery which really does work to give this film a boost into something a bit more interesting, animation that is alive enough to bring real life into each scene and fully realise the intention of each design and moment within the film, with the characters equally being full of veritable life and personality that when put together makes it all look really special. Occasional sound sync issues do also pop up once or twice as well, but for the most part, it’s a film that’s delivery is solid and steady from beginning to end.

Although its core story might not create any fireworks, The Last Anomaly’s animation is clever enough to add just that little something different to offer up a decent piece of filmmaking.