THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

For much of my film-watching life, my short film experience had been limited to the Pixar shorts that played before their feature films in theaters. Stories like Bao and Piper stood on their own for me, but I hadn’t really dived into the vast sea of short films until this year, when Morgan and I got our tickets to see all five Oscar-Nominated Live Action Shorts, and all five Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts. It was a really fun night, kept really fresh by the ever-changing narratives, and an experience I can’t wait to have again next year. Below are my five quick-and-dirty reviews of the Live Action nominees, in the order we watched them.

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent‘s best quality was its ability to quickly create an uncomfortable situation in the train car between its occupants and army officers. The short film also did a great job of convincing the viewer of which man could titularly not remain silent, only to pull a switcheroo at the end. The film’s message about when and how people can stand up to injustice, and if we’re even capable of doing that ourselves, was poignant and not over-explained, either. Beyond that, however, the film was lacking action. There was very little momentum and dynamism in the story, with not enough dialogue or conflict between these army officers and the Muslim passengers they were removing. For a story dealing with a truth so uncomfortable, I wished they had gotten a little more in the weeds and really put us in that spot with them. The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent was, shockingly, quiet and intent on showing rather than telling, but I wish they had told a little more of the story.

Anuja provided a welcomed brightness to the auditorium after The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, and the main relationship between Anuja and Palak was where it thrived. Both sisters cared equally for each other’s happiness and success, especially as Palak encouraged Anuja to take the exam and try boarding school (and not deny her genius). Even in its short runtime, the world felt very lived in, but it did also feel like I got dropped into the middle of a story. How smart is Anuja? How do we know that, other than the teacher telling us? What happens after? I wanted more on either end of this story (or both), because the characters and community were both teeming with potential. I loved how the film highlighted Sadja Pathan, who has benefited from a program like this in real life, at the end. It must be pretty cool to play a character whose life has improved in such a similar way to your own. Anuja was cute and quick, with two lovely central performances, so it’s a good thing that my biggest criticism of it is that I wanted more of it.

I’m Not a Robot was my favorite of the live-action bunch, likely because of its really novel concept and it being the first funny short film of the night. The circumstances and dialogue were equally funny, and I thought it was hilarious how all of the characters’ cursing was all in English. Lara’s situation was especially funny, too, mostly because I was sure she wasn’t a robot for most of the film. I’m not sure if her actually being a bot made the opening Captcha fails funnier or not, but having failed multiple Captchas before myself, I understand the frustration (and denial). Once the cat was out of the bag, the tone of the film shifted toward the more sinister and unpredictable, which made me wish that this amazing of a premise wasn’t used on a short film. How dare this story be relegated to just 15 minutes; I need a feature-length movie set in this world of bot realization. Bookend this with a bomb choral arrangement of “Creep”, and you’ve got the recipe for one of the best short films—regardless of medium—nominated at the Oscars this year.

A Lien was not the first short film this Oscars season that made me reasonably very frustrated, and it unfortunately wasn’t the last, either. In this new America we’ve found ourselves in over the last month, hard truths like the one presented in A Lien really get me hot, especially when it’s so clear that those being oppressed are not in the wrong. Deportations of undocumented immigrants—specifically those actively working towards their Green Card and their citizenship—is a very touchy subject that this film handled gracefully and, more importantly, honestly. We don’t need to sugarcoat the fear and pain that these families undergo as they try to do the right thing, follow the right avenues so they can live here the way our government intended. Aside from the issues presented, I though this film did a great job of conveying the connectedness and closeness of this family in such a short time period; I believed their performances and their care for each other immediately, and it’s one of the reasons that A Lien was as powerful as it was. Not perfect, sure, definitely too short, but a strong showing.

Maybe it was live-action short film fatigue; maybe it was just general tiredness. The Last Ranger didn’t immediately click for me, but it had many of the right parts. Khusi and Litha’s short-lived relationship was sweet, but since it was a short film, that great relationship lasted all of 10 minutes before they killed Khusi. I wasn’t shocked how I should’ve been by Litha’s dad being the poacher, but I sympathized with both the rhinos and rangers for how mistreated they are by poachers. What shocked me more was that 1,000 rangers have been killed by poachers since 2012; I know they put their life on the line and are also responsible for the deaths of poachers, but it was still very disheartening. I enjoyed the ending, though—getting to see Thandi alive and well and Litha following in Khusi’s footsteps—and the biggest surprise (a John Powell score out of nowhere) was found in the credits. The Last Ranger wasn’t my favorite of the live-action crop, but it did have more going for it (and going on) than The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent.