Sprout (2023) Short Film Review
Zora Kovac’s 7-minute animated short film Sprout is one of the weirdest pieces of art that ever spawned from the creative mindset that was the result of a worldwide pandemic. The strange theme it tackles isn’t seen as actually strange. It’s just a variation of a subjective perception of how we see our surroundings and how we interact with them considering the inevitability. Whatever you get with its bizarre resolution will be enough. Sprout is a film that speaks about everyone but it doesn’t speak to everyone and it’s OK.
The story is simple: a scientist suffers from agoraphobia (meaning he only feels safe when he’s confined in his house). Girl scouts selling cookies? He sprays them off with a device that releases foul smell. He doesn’t want to interact with the outside world and even letters arrive to him through a set of robotic arms that almost filter any dust that may contaminate his lab.
But even the best scientists are subject to accidents. An unexpected mixture creates a baby plant. But it grows and grows and soon it becomes uncontrollable. It’s also aware of where it is and who has created it. It doesn’t take much time for the plant to explore the outside world.
What follows in Sprout is a beautiful fairy tale about how we interact with the world, and how technology is able to provide us with escapism. Kovac’s idea is only possible through a zero-dialogue animated film that barely touches on the idea of isolation while exploring a fantasy-like resolution that won’t work for everyone. Sure, it’s good enough for him, a scientist that’s been trapped in a fetal-like position inside a huge plant. How this connects with the ending isn’t easy to identify.
Sprout is not a film for everyone, and perhaps some people won’t connect with the lead character’s attitude into observing the outside world. Nevertheless, isolation and mental health differ from any standard. Interpretations are always welcome, as well as solutions to issues that only seem possible in a fantasy world. For the agoraphobic, their life takes place in a cell, however comfortable it is. It’s still a prison for them. To see how the world and the environment can help you overcome this, can feel simplistic and overly optimistic. But it’s interesting enough to make you think about the solutions to whatever issues isolated people go through.
This is a weird short film that will start conversations. Sometimes that’s good enough for filmmakers who aim at being different than the average storytellers that would have surely taken a different approach. In some cases, we need to celebrate the original, and this is one to consider.
