This animated short from France is guaranteed to be a crowdpleaser during the 2020 Indy Shorts International Film Festival going on July 21-26, 2020 in Indianapolis. While this year's pandemic-influenced festival is a hybrid of online and drive-in screenings, in this case that's all the better so we can find a wider audience for this delightfully engaging short that is screening as a finalist during the festival. 

This student film is easily one of the 2020 festival's highlights, a beautifully animated effort with a dialogue-free story that comes to life in ways that are hilarious and adorable. The story takes place in Lison, a German couple is riding the legendary n°28 tramway but must react swiftly when the brakes give out and they embark on a vertiginous race...with a baby on board.

The characters here are vividly realized. You think you're going to laugh at them, but you end up laughing with them as this five-minute work of wonder wins your heart and you'll just love it from beginning to end. 

Screening as part of the Finalist 1 block of films, o28 is easily suitable for all ages and the only complaint your kids may have is wanting to see a whole lot more of it. With its screening here as a finalist for this Academy Award-qualifying film fest, one can only hope that we see much more of o28 during awards season. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic