Above: A Search for Meaning and the Joke Littered Path to it

Vincent Aliperti’s Above takes its time to find its feet. A 10-minute sci-fi comedy-drama about a robot in search of meaning, the film is a mix of live-action, CGI, animation and practical effects. The practical effects are employed to create the planet of Evoba, where the robot VA72597 has lived and mined for years. 

It is the year 2025. Evoba is a landscape of barren mountains and belching volcanoes. The sky is a vivid blue and orange. In fact, everything is vividly coloured, and almost nothing to scale. On Evoba, there is no rest for the eyes. The robot VA72597 (Ryan Elger, voiced by Aliperti) is a former slave miner who hopes there is a better life on Earth than on Evoba, where his former slaver is scouring every inch of the surface to recapture him. 

All this is delivered as exposition through his conversation with a space trader (Mike Stillman) while the latter delivers what is essentially VA72597’s key to having a new life on Earth. Besides VA72597 as the protagonist, the trader is the only character with sizeable screen time. While VA72597 is introspective, the trader is a comedic character not altogether different from the opportunist character type one would find in fiction here on Earth, leading to a smattering of Deadpool-esque moments. Outside of his lines, Stillman’s rendering of the character is largely responsible for his impact in a scene that is rather lukewarm. 

Above does not properly take shape until two-thirds into the runtime when animation enters the fray. The abstract, rather psychedelic and sometimes comic book-like visuals match the quality of the background score, which has maintained quality throughout. VA72597 decides rock music is his calling and key to fitting in on Earth. And just then, new questions arise and plague him. 

The last few minutes do not necessarily make up for the rest of the film but they are worth watching in and of themselves. They even add charm to and endear a character who was until then flat and predictable.

Watch Above Sci-Fi Short Film