Death Billiards

Two men wake in a bar with no memory of how they got there. A white-haired bartender offers them a game: they will play billiards and the winner leaves. As the game proceeds every shot turns into a physical cost and both men's pasts emerge in pieces. Yuzuru Tachikawa directed the short under a state programme set up to train young animators. It explains nothing: what the bar is, who the bartender is and the real rule of the game are never stated. This twenty-five-minute piece later became the series Death Parade, which expanded the world the film established. Who it is for: viewers who like short animation and stories built on moral judgement. Who it is not for: anyone expecting explanation.