LOVE IS JUST A DEATH AWAY Film Review — A Disturbingly Beautiful Love Story

Posted on by Breanna Henry

Birds fly through a blood orange sky. The camera pans down to a less appealing image, what seems to be a land-fill. We observe the dirt and paper and plastics everywhere until we notice something moving under a discarded newspaper. A baby bird wrestles itself from underneath, and it looks like it has a broken wing, struggling to fly.

While the birdie is trying to muster some strength, a rabid animal (Wolf? Coyote?) comes from around the corner of a trash pile, bearing sharp bloody teeth ready to chomp on anything in its path. The birdie is in panic mode, still trying to figure out how to fly with a broken wing. Before the animal could come any closer, another animal comes around the opposite direction to defend the birdie. It looks like a dog, but the skin is molting, its bones are sticking out, and it has a glassy eye so it’s hard to tell. Regardless, this dog is ready to defend the helpless fowl.

The two animals are circling each other, trying to see who can intimidate the other more from getting the little bird. All of a sudden, the molting dog’s good eye pops out of its socket. Everything stops, and the rabid animal sees the dangling thing and runs away, scared. Success! The predator is gone. The dog looks back at the birdie expectantly, and the birdie, instead of grateful, is disgusted by what it sees. It attempts to fly away, but with a broken wing and all, it ends up crashing into a pole, dying right then and there. A few seconds pass, and a parasite from inside of the dog’s head pulls the eye back into its rightful place and stares at what it has done.

LOVE IS JUST A DEATH AWAY Mixes Macabre With Whimsical 

Bára Anna Stejskalová shows us a dark animated story that will leave you both cringing, disgusted, and in awe. We find out that there is a parasite controlling a dead dog, and uses the dog’s body as a host to try and find love. The parasite goes through a few relationship attempts; a bird, a rat, and even cockroaches, and each ends in its demise. This parasite has the Midas touch, except when it touches things instead of turning to gold it turns to death. But, the parasite may find his true love after all.

Love Is Just A Death Away uses gruesome imagery that weirdly adds to the authenticity of this nine-minute film. If you aren’t afraid of a little gore and morbid scenes, you would enjoy this film. If, however, you are creeped out easily, you may not want to watch this. It will have your skin crawling.

 

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CREATIVE TEAM:

Director/Writer: Bára Anna Stejskalová
Producer: Jakub Košťál, Vratislav Šlajer 
Editor: Ilona Malá
Animation: Bára Anna Stejskalová, Jiří Krupička, Matouš Valchář, Vojtěch Kis

Find out more about the film on Bára Anna Stejskalová’s homepage

Images courtesy of LOVE IS JUST A DEATH AWAY

 

Breanna Henry

About the Author: Breanna Henry

Almost 10 years ago Breanna sat in her tiny room she shared with her younger sister in Houston, Texas writing songs, stories, and poems on the rough carpet. She mimicked songs she heard on the radio and imitated books she's read from the Scholastic Book Fair. By fifth grade, she knew creative writing would soon be her passion. Now a sophomore at Loyola University New Orleans, she has published works on her university's newspaper, literary journal, and on her own blog. When she's not writing and working towards her Mass Communication and English Writing degree, she's watching Criminal Minds re-runs, doing photoshoots with friends, and dancing wildly in her dorm room while music blasts through her speakers.

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