PUPA

Animation, Short, Student, Thriller, Horror, Gore, 2D Animation, Psychological

Ireland

2025

Runtime, min

‘PUPA’ is an animated short depicting envy, perfectionism, and its destructive effects. Butterflies, often the symbol of beauty, do not start as the perfect specimens we admire. Their metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly happens in the pupa, where they melt their bodies down and rebuild themselves to perfection. And where perfection exists, envy follows. Envy is an archaic emotion. An amalgamation of the strongest feelings a person may feel. It is a carnal and destructive emotion that even humankind’s oldest religions warn against. PUPA depicts the push and pull of both perfectionism and envy in the form of two dolls. One being the former favourite, and the other, a shiny new doll. The older doll’s envy starts as a sinking, impending doom of replacement, which eventually pushes her to the edge.

Director:

Mizhqua Rinoa Jin Tabuena Natividad

Selections and Awards:

REVIEWS:

Honestly, I didn’t get everything, but it was really beautiful and creepy. Especially when the face cracked.

Lucia Sanchez Ortiz

The concept of envy as an ancient, mythic emotion is beautifully illustrated. It feels like a parasite feeding from within. Deeply allegorical.

Leo Antsiferov

Bright, bitter, raw, and frightening. An emotional film. Thank you!

Live Screenings Attendee

It doesn’t waste a single frame. Each shot is like a painting. Emotions are conveyed through silence, angles, and light. Masterful work.

Humberto Vázquez

It felt like a reverse Pinocchio. Instead of becoming human, the character dissolves into a doll from envy. It’s terrifying—not from the outside, but from within.

Grigory Kopic

The geisha stylization and stark shadows resemble Japanese woodblock prints. The red-black-white contrast feels very Kabuki-like. Visually stunning.

David Jilla

PUPA is a potent allegory on metamorphosis, toxic comparison, and the loss of self. The animation feels like an etching—sharp, dramatic, deliberately harsh. I caught shades of Black Swan and Perfect Blue in its aesthetic.

Francisco Gonzalez Martinez

This film is pure visualized anxiety. I could feel the envy corroding the doll from the inside. That was intense.

Emmanuelle Lars