'Opera' short film review: Not what you think

Don't be fooled by its name - other than the orchestral music and theme - Opera has little do with a literal opera.

An eight-minute-long animated short, Erick Oh's Opera takes place in a pyramid, which is probably meant to represent some form of the food chain. It goes down and up as the day passes on - represented by 12 dice - showing little snippets of a strange society.

At first, it's fairly benign. A king rules, the dead are hurried into coffins, people engage in the arts, the living study and go about their chores and a kitchen works on. However, as it goes down, it becomes grimmer and grimmer: An execution room, where hearts are harvested to feed someone. Forced labour in other rooms, and jails in some others. One room has a noose for those who are working, while in others, people worship idols and bureaucrats gorge themselves.

Read | 'If Anything Happens I Love You' short film review: A moving tale about coming to terms with tragedy

There also appears to be a clear economic divide at the lower levels, shown in how all the gold comes in from the left side of the pyramid's lower levels, and the refuse is cast into the right side.

But the real ugliness is always hidden at the bottom, and that perhaps is the most important part of the world this film aims to show. It reflects, in many ways, the history of mankind - and in others, the present. Whether it offers a warning for the future remains open to interpretation, but one thing is clear: Opera makes amazing use of colour and lighting, with a very stylistic, not-quite-abstract appearance.

Opera is one of five animated shorts nominated for the 93rd Academy Awards. It is available to stream on BookMyShow.