Who hasn’t had a moment where they’ve had enough? Animator Anna Mantzaris follows that premise to humorous and empathetic effect in the short Enough.
Within three brisk minutes, Enough strings together various scenes of people reaching the brink: falling asleep in line at the ATM, leaping from a moving car, tossing a cell phone out a window. There’s little context for what causes them to lose control, and no dialogue beyond an occasional yell. Yet the lack of explanation and the quick cuts add to the relatability and the vicariousness of watching someone do what polite behavior often dictates we shouldn’t.
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Mantzaris, an assistant animator on Isle of Dogs (2018) who created the animated shorts Good Intentions (2018) and But Milk Is Important (2012), designs characters who aren’t all warm and fuzzy, although their facial texture resembles felted wool. They push people down stairs, smash a dinner plate in someone’s face, and send a baby carriage flying.
These snapshots of rage might make viewers teeter between laughs and gasps, but the soft textures hold the violence at bay, heightening the absurd. For all its eruptions, Enough ends on a pitiable and tender note. It’s a rough world out there, Mantzaris seems to say, and when one person understands just how another feels, sometimes that’s enough.
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