Gruff (2024) User Reviews

Masterpiece

[loganren · 9/10 · 2 March 2024]

As a passionate filmmaker myself I have to respect this for using mostly practical effects and actually using paper figures for its characters. This might just be as soul-crushing as the holdovers in that they endear you to an old man in only 7 minutes only to crush you when he parishes. The in universe television show from the beginning and end is very well done and actually looks like an old animated series. The fact that this filmmaker actually posted the behind the scenes process before the release of the film instead of including it in a special edition patreon release is very commendable. Overall this film is fantastic and an amazing debut short from Righteous Robot.

Update:

Apparently Righteous Robot released a follow up short that is the in universe television series, I watched it day one and highly recommend it.

Poignant and beautiful.

[TheDanielBaxter · 9/10 · 10 March 2024]

Gruff is a beautiful looking short, with a lovely message behind it.

The biggest selling point is the animation, and to say it is incredible is a huge understatement of the amount of care and love that went into making it. The movie is filmed using "Gekimation" style, papercraft models and set-pieces, with each movement of a character being done through intricate puppetry... I believe that there may only be one piece of CGI throughout, with that being an explosion, with everything else done using practical effects.

The creation of this short film was documented on Facebook by the creator, and it was an absolute pleasure to watch everything come together into one finished product.

The plot is simple but effective, concise, and emotional.

Gruff is a testament to hard work and passion for filmmaking.