Best Friend (2018)

The short animated film, uploaded by “GOBELINS” on YouTube, is set in a dystopian sci-fi future, roughly about the story of a lonely man named Arther who gets addicted to a product called “Best Friend”, which creates a perfect friend for the user, giving them exactly what they want- at a price. It’s shown to be highly addictive, as he’s not alone in the trail of addiction, seeing how many others are the same way, and even at the end he can’t turn away from it (without revealing spoilers), truly showing and expressing how addictions start, and how they may never stop.

This 5-minute masterpiece is special for a number of reasons, for example, being a short film on YouTube, gives it the ability to define itself differently, in not requiring a good ending like most fully produced films are, as in such, cynical audience members can’t judge it before it starts, and aren’t guaranteed a good ending. That detail is a double-edged sword however, as although it sets itself apart from many films, if not most, but many audience members may expect a happy ending, and if it lacks one, they may be dissatisfied or upset, and not enjoying it having anticipated that everything will be alright by the end of the film.

The film exceeds expectations in animation quality and detail, does a great job of fully showing off how the life of addicts go, in multiple ways, seeming like such an obvious and easy world to have built and yet hasn’t been done too much, only similar to Blade Runner in such regards- and on that note the world building is impressive considering its an entire story in just five minutes, showing a lot about people who aren’t there for more than ten seconds, considering everyone is in a way, living inside their own world, unable to notice Arther at key moments. On the topic of Arther, he makes a good protagonist for the story, considering he shows very easily he has an addictive personality, has a hard time making friends, and is by many regards- just an average man trying to live in a dystopian society. His only real goals are just to enjoy his daily life as unfortunate things seem to keep happening- possibly knock on effects from the “Best Friend” product sometimes- and he just has to keep on moving and making his way in life.

Overall, the film does a brilliant job for being 5 minutes, is well worth the watch, but it won’t appeal to every audience, (and by personal preference, not mine), yet still displays addiction very well and achieves its goal as a film, so personally, I would give it 4.5/5 stars, as it has brilliant animation, and is amazing in so many ways, but the overall sad tone isn’t for everyone, would recommend highly to anyone who loves dystopian themes and world that may not always have good endings.