How to watch the Oscar-nominated short Pachyderme? Plot, trailer, and more

Pachyderme is a French animated short film that made it to the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film list of nominees. Directed by French illustrator Stéphanie Clément, the film is one of the five nominees in the category announced on January 23, 2024.

The criteria for being considered an animated short film are that a film has to be less than 40 minutes in length. With a total runtime of 11 minutes, Pachyderme is a very short watch but induces great emotions for the viewers. The official synopsis of the French animated short film reads:

"As every summer, Louise is entrusted to her grand-parents for a few days of vacation in the country. The green grass of the garden, the swimming in the lake, the fishing with Grandpa, everything seems as sweet as Grandma’s strawberry pies. Yet this year, the snow will fall in summer and a monster will die."

The Oscar-nominated film is not yet available for streaming on any platform, however, viewers can watch the film through video-on-demand services.

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Where to watch the Oscar-nominated animated short Pachyderme?

Pachyderme was initially released in France in April 2022 before releasing across other regions. As mentioned earlier, the film is unavailable on any major streaming platform. However, the animated short can be viewed before the upcoming Oscars 2024 through video-on-demand services.

Currently, Pachyderme is available for viewing on the video streaming service Vimeo. Viewers can head to Vimeo's streaming website on their computer, television, or mobile devices. To watch the animated short, viewers will have to create a Vimeo account. The film is available for rent for $6.00 on Vimeo. After the purchase, the film will be available on the viewer's Vimeo account for 48 hours.

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Pachyderme - What we know about the plot from the trailer

The trailer for the film starts with a piece of somber but dark music along with the narration of the story's central character, Louise, who recalls visiting her grandparents as a little girl.

There is a sense of foreboding from the first lines of the narration, the solemn tone, and the striking yellow tones of the backgrounds. This young girl's life is not correct in some way. The audience is struck with a terrible realization as she proceeds to recount her experience.

The subtitle's disparate elements—her expressionless stare, the photos of everyone but Louise without a face, and her wish to blend in with the background—come together.

In an e-mail interview with Animation Scoop on January 15, 2024, director Stéphanie Clement had the following to say about the inspiration for the short film:

"It all grew out from a shared interest for me and Marc Rius – scriptwriter and producer – to work together. We were seeking to tackle the delicate topic of incest. Based on psychological defense mechanisms such as repression and dissociation, we tried to build a story around an emotionally anesthetized character who struggles with their own memories."

The trailer for the film highlights the painting-like illustration technique used to create the scenes of the film, and certain scenes are even reminiscent of the style used by famous artist Vincent Van Gogh.

Pachyderme uses the power of images to portray dreamlike escapes used by the protagonist to deal with issues of abuse within the family. The word 'Pachyderm' describes the thick skin of certain animals, such as rhinos and elephants. This idea assumes a symbolic significance when discussing Louise's trauma in light of how tough it is to overcome.

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Stay tuned for the results of the Best Animated Short Film as the 96th Academy Awards ceremony is set to take place on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.