This animated short makes a lot of use of negative space to focus our attentions on the "simple" animated figures at the heart of this story. We see an exotic dancer in front of an audience remember the past where she was abused as a child, with the image of a man in a hat being a strong key and accordingly a constant part of the animation throughout the film.
The first thing to say is that this film may be short and may be animated but it is an uncomfortable watch which becomes a tough watch by the end. The subject is child abuse and it is not one that the film shirks away from as it contains very sexual imagery throughout and it moves between memory and present in a way that blurs and connects. This connection was perhaps my only issue with the short because I did not like the very specific thematic linking (by use of the hats and eyes) of the character's abuse as a child and her role as a dancer. In the specific it is a fair part of the film, but if you take it as a general statement then it is not one I really liked – so I chose to take it as this story for this character and engage with it as such.
With this aside the blurring of sexual value and sexual abuse in the past and present is really cleverly done with the shape and image of the hat being used very well. It is occasionally very graphic but in terms of making you uncomfortable it succeeds but never just for the sake of it but rather to achieve the goal. I found it quite harrowing at the end and, although as a general statement I do not think it works, but as a specific story it is very well told and very cleverly animated – but it really is a disturbing and tough film to watch.