Cocoon Is a Stunning Animated Short About Love, Obsession, and Violence

Cocoon really is something quite special – you can tell from the very beginning it is a labor of love by director Daixuan Yuan, who created this animated short for their third year film at CalArts. It draws together a number of elements from different writers and artists to become something of a synthesis – a complete piece of art in and of itself that is beautiful to look at and intriguing to watch.  Visually, it is exquisite,

The plot is inspired by Edogawa Ranpo’s novel, A Brute’s Love.  It follows a violent criminal who becomes obsessively devoted to a woman, leading to manipulation, psychological control, and escalating brutality as love and violence become indistinguishable ultimately together.  And yes, you get all of this in the short.  But then there is the art.  For that, Daixuan draws on Salvador Dali in particular, but there are other influences at play here – Asumiko Nakamura and Gustav Klimt were the first that came to mind.

This really is something quite extraordinary.  Watch the complete animated short below.  It's not an emotionally easy watch by any means, but has many rewards.