The Worm

The second short film by director and animator Max Palmer.

Since the duration is twenty five seconds, it would be tricky to review this without spoilers. So, what takes place here? The animation consists of claymation and filmed as one long take. There are characters (three in total) who are figures that are supposed to be humans (men, to be precise, judging by the voices) and they are made out of what looks like plasticine and the surrounding environment consists of a white floor and a white wall. There is a narrative and it begins with a white (completely white that is) character (who appears to be drunk) talking to a blue character about performing an act that will make him (the white one) see the worm, before falling on his face and smashing it and then another blue character enters the frame and as they attempt to help the injured one, they suffer the same fate as him.

Overall, the viewing is amusing, with good sound effects. The splatter parts are probably the highlights here, adding dark humour.

It is evident that this is unskilled and uncreative work, with the claymation being very simple. To be more accurate, the characters hardly look like any kind of figures at all, let alone humans. Without the voices, one could not tell that these plasticine creations are supposed to be people. Additionally, at times, the creator's fingers and hands are visible. Very, very plain work and the voice acting is not of high standards.

What is this film about? What themes does it address? This might be hard to point out. Perhaps it involves drunkenness, naivety and carelessness. It is hard to tell. Or maybe this is intended to be just a fun viewing.

Although it is appreciated that effort was made to create something, the result is an animated short of poor standards. Maybe it would be better if one does not attempt to comprehend the story and the themes or compare the animation to masterpieces and just try to enjoy the silly show.