Everything Will Be Ok (2006) User Reviews

My goodness this is strange!!!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 14 August 2008]

This film was included in THE ANIMATION SHOW VOLUME THREE--a compilation of short films arranged by Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge. Overall, this is a very impressive DVD--and much of it is due to CITY PARADISE.

Even for Don Hertzfeldt, this is a super-strange short film!! While it is not funny like the films you find on Volume One, it is so incredibly creative and bizarre that it's also quite compelling.

EVERYTHING IS O.K. is a surreal stream of consciousness which features the usual Hertzfeldt stick men drawings. However, instead of violence (which we love) in this film, it's more about a guy who's going crazy. He's either got schizophrenia or a brain tumor (more likely) and you see through the course of this film as he looses his mind. What I particularly liked was his use of multiple screens to show how this sick man perceives the world. Some may find it all quite funny--I just found it strangely compelling.

A Stick Figure With Mental Problems

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 18 September 2008]

At 17 minutes, this is a long animated short and one that might bore a number of people, but it was strangely intriguing. Basically, it's just a narrator seen on screen as a stick figure talking about life as it passes him by, his thoughts and some of things that happen to him. It's hard to explain, because it's bizarre humor. As someone who appreciates the absurd, I laughed out loud a half-dozen times at some of the crazy "observations" the narrator made.

Our host, our main figure, has mental problems. Socially, he's a real loser but you root for him and even in monotone delivery, you hang on each word he says.....at least I did. Be warned, however: some of it is a little gross and once the narrator blatantly profanes. (This isn't something a kid would watch, anyway.) Visually, the artist varies from individual to multiple drawings on screen at once. You can literally see several of the man's thoughts at once as he thinks them. Most of the visuals are the stick-figure drawings but there are photos as well. You get a little bit of everything in this strange film.

I also thought the first half of this was far more entertaining and the story and words get darker and more depressing and disturbing as the animation short goes on. If you are familiar with the work of the author of this piece, you know how sick and demented this "movie" might be to many people.

This was included in the DVD, "The Animation Show, Vol. 3" and is very original, as the other entries are on this disc. It's also "not for all tastes."

Beautifully hand made

[adamnixon-40328 · 9/10 · 17 March 2018]

I shared with one of my children, a digital art affectionado, hoping that she finds inspiration and meaning

What seems to be a one-gag cartoon proves to be a moving story about illness and madness

[J. Spurlin · 2 March 2007]

The banal life of a young man is represented by stick figures and described by a monotonous narrator. We hear about his moments of awkward social behavior, the silly ideas that occur to him, his goofy thoughts about death and dying; the stick figures and the narration make the banality funny. The audience laughs.

Then the one-joke premise overstays its welcome. We're waiting for this thing to end, barely aware that the writer and director Don Herzfeldt, through his narrator, is sneaking in some disturbing items on the list of banalities. It hits most of us that something is seriously wrong when the young man notices a trickle of urine sliding down his pants leg. Is he sick? It turns out he is, both mentally and physically; and it seems he may die. We see, and hear about, the reactions of his mother and uncle. They buy a casket for him. He loses control of his mind.

I found this animated short about illness and madness very moving. I know how I feel about it, but what did I think of it? Did Herzfeldt intend to make a short that initially appears to us as a one-gag cartoon? Whether he intended it or not, was this a mistake? Did it add to or subtract from our reaction to the second half? Did Herzfeldt intend to amuse us, then bore us, then frighten us, then sadden us? Is telling a serious story with stick figures a kind of joke? Or were the stick figures the most effective way of telling the story? Or both?

In asking these questions, I think I've come up with my own answers. I think Herzfeldt intended the effects he got, and I think they were good ideas. This film is highly recommended.

Don Hertzfeldt's masterpiece

[Rectangular_businessman · 10/10 · 10 April 2012]

While at first this animated short seems like another random comedy from Don Hertzfeldt (Like the hilarious "Rejected") he truth is that this is something much more complex than that, being both nightmarish and thoughtful.

Like in most Don Hertzfeldt's shorts, everyday life is portrayed as something incredibly bizarre, and while there are several hints of black humor, the mood in this short is somewhat different than in the other works from the same director: In many ways, the story is way darker and (even) more surreal. There are reminiscences to the works of David Lynch (For example, at one moment, the nightmares of the main character are portrayed through live action; while that sequence is quite brief, the imagery used on it is incredibly unsettling) I think that in the hands of other director, the same story would have done as something boring and melodramatic. But Don Hertzfeldt manages to make even the most twisted aspects of the stories from his shorts into something fascinating, being truly unpredictable in its development.

Hertzfeldt, like Jan Svankmajer, the Brothers Quay and Bill Plympton remains faithful to his particular style (Both in the narrative and visual aspect) having a unique vision of the world and the reality, a quality that only the greatest artist have.

bar raising phenom

[thfuthey · 10/10 · 13 February 2007]

Hertzfeldt continues to completely out-do himself in a style that is all his own. Complex animation which looks incredibly simple. Dense sound layering over a beautiful narrated story. "Everything Will Be OK" continues themes that are touched upon in "The Meaning of Life" but expands upon them, going deeper into very real human emotions that are created through simple but complex character and action. A cartoon version if you will of Miles van der Rohe, in that 'god is (most certainly) in the details'. It could easily be his magnum opus but something tells me a year from now he will once again have left audience's around the world in soul shattering awe. Simplistic and existential.

A masterpiece of animation

[geoffingeorgia · 10/10 · 1 December 2007]

This is one of the most amazing films ever. It grabs you quickly by using Hertzfeld's charming (and disarming) stick-figure style, makes you laugh at (protagonist) Bill's simple social flubs, that progress into something much darker and more real. More important and desperate.

If you or a close loved one have ever thought you might be going mad, it will certainly touch raw nerves, drawing you into Bill's confusion, helplessness, feelings of inadequacy and depression. No small feat for stick figures. I am someone who gets totally absorbed in movies and must admit I was moved to tears at more than one viewing (I was fortunate enough to see this on a large screen at two separate film festivals and finally ordered my own copy from Bitterfilms.com, the only source for DVD's of the film).

In my defense I was not alone, I paid special attention to listen to other patrons. It was amazing to watch a whole theater so quickly laughing and then to be moved just as quickly to sympathy by what are in essence line drawings. I struggle to think of another animator who can so readily evoke such feelings. Perhaps Adam Benjmin Eliot's black & white claymation comes close.

Those familiar with Hertzfeldt's earlier work might notice a similar emotional pattern to "Meaning of Life" in it's building intensity that rises to a deafening, maddening din, only to take a long silent reflective pause towards the end, before returning to the original story. Much like the musical structure of many classical operas.

Likewise it shares "Meaning"'s use of many beautiful "in-camera" effects to awe inspiring ends. By various method of folding, crumbling, burning, staining and otherwise distressing the paper that the animations are being produced on, Bill's whole world is shown to crumble around him, both in his reality and ours.

I don't think there is one frame of this that isn't completely enjoyable. The editing keeps us constantly looking to another area of the screen to catch up, and I don't think there's one shot where we see the entire screen filled with one image, further showing the frantic thoughts of our hero.

For some reason one of the images that sticks with me is what (I imagine) is footage of rain on a black garbage bag. Another is of an rubber pig, hand puppet filmed out of focus.

Fans of animation will like this easily, but I've already made new fans of other friends who are are almost film snobs and normally wouldn't choose to watch what they call, with a noticeably condescending tone, "Cartoons".

I can't wait to see what Hertzfeld does next

Hertzfeldt isn't "God" backwards, but he sure seems like one

[flux-compacitor · 10/10 · 12 February 2007]

This Animation was truly wonderful, I saw it during the Animation Show 3, and was simply amazed. People may call Hertzfeldt's work "bad" because of the lack of detail in the frames, well, I oppose that. Hertzfeldt wastes no time in making his frames into ultimately perfected pieces of Art. The narration (which I assume is Hertzfeldt) is hilarious as it revolves around a "special" time in Bill's demented life, ranging from trips to the local grocery store with the crotch-fruit to having his head sent in to space (which his ex-girlfriend feels uncomfortable about). As the film progresses, you find out that not "everything will be okay", but then it is for two days, then it isn't, but the next day, he feels better, and truly, everything will be okay.

Affecting animation

[briancham1994 · 9/10 · 8 August 2020]

When I first watched this, the rest of the trilogy had not been completed yet, so I viewed this short film just by itself. At first it seems to show the inner life of a rather strange stick-man with whom some of us can relate. Then it goes completely off the rails and shows that he has a serious brain disease that is making his reality completely fall apart. This becomes terrifying and very affecting. I did not know that it would lead to another two great installments but even by itself, this is a truly terrific piece of animation.

I've Been Lynched!!

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 6 July 2019]

Life appears to be a nightmare. Bill, the stick figure character, goes through life, doing on mundane thing after another, redundant action being his pall. We are given a tour of his psyche and it is horrible. I'm convinced, as I've said before, that David Lynch portrays his own nightmares. But that's what is happening here as well. I really enjoyed this, but because of my age, it became a bit much for me. Crushing.

Another triumph for Hertzfeldt

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 12 July 2015]

Californian Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt wrote, directed and narrated this 16-minute movie 10 years ago when he was around 30. It's maybe his fastest movie, especially in the first half where Hertzfeldt is constantly speaking pretty much without a break. It's absolutely spot-on , down to the smallest detail. The references he mentions may seem random at first, but if you think about it, it all makes sense. Unfortunately, you will miss the next three sentences if you think about it, so this film definitely deserves more than one watch. I have to say, going only by the first half I may have rated this a 10. The second half is inferior, but it's still pretty good. I guess after watching this, it's safe for me to say that Hertzfeldt is my favorite animation director right now and I am totally looking forward to his next films. I hope there will be many more to come and I am positive that he could also come up with a truly awesome live action movie as he has proved on so many occasions in his short films that he possesses great perception about the human soul. His animation style is very unique. But there is also a raw truth to his films, an approach that I have not seen in anybody else's work. Apart from that, Hertzfeldt of course also has an amazing voice as a narrator. Everything will be okay, but this film will be just great if you decide to watch it what I hope you will because otherwise you are truly missing out. Highly recommended.

A remarkable, eye-opening trip to say the least

[NoNamerGrit · 9 July 2020]

Hertzfeldt delivers a singularly disquieting and unflichingly powerful portrait of mental illness told in a bleak, surreal urban setting. This marks the first chapter of a trilogy, preceding I Am So Proud Of You (2008) and It's Such A Beautiful Day (2011).

We see introduced to our protagonist Bill, an ordinary man in the form of a stick figure leading an ostensibly mundane life with anecdotes told through constantly nonchalant narration, as increasingly disturbing hallucinations and dreams manifests and leads him down the spiral of madness.

This symphony of visual and auditory cacophony, Hertzfeldt's unique stylistic visuals paired with unsettling sound design, captures Bill's intense internal turmoil terrifyingly well. As they reach their boilling point, the nightmarish and incoherent assault both the eyes and ears.

As we think all hope is lost, the film pulls back and returns to its primary mood. Its resolution serves as a sort of reprieve while the soothing (albeit, intentionally, ever slightly discordant) music washes over you.

As the title of my review says, a remarkable, eye-opening trip to say the least. Masterfully executed start to a trilogy, the rest of which I'll be happy to experience if only I can find a copy of it somewhere.

Although this can be watched on YouTube for free, please give Don Hertzfeldt the money he deserves by buying the Blu-ray of his short films!