A Guide to the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Live Action Short Films
Hardcore Oscar fans know that the Best Live Action Short Film category has a rocky history when it comes to featuring quality nominees. Almost every year, there’s at least one short in this category that’s one of the worst films nominated overall in its year by the Academy. Thankfully, that’s not the case this year, as all five of the nominated shorts have at least some element worthy of recognition, regardless of their total quality. Let’s take a look at this quintet and offer our best guess at what may prevail in this infamously difficult-to-predict race. Check your local listings of where to catch them in theaters or online if available down below.
Butcher’s Stain (26m)
Best Live Action Short has a reputation amongst Oscar fans for being filled with very serious, heavy films (I’m still recovering from the 2018 Oscars when four of the five nominees centered around child death). Butcher’s Stain is undoubtedly the most dramatic of this year’s crop, although thankfully it’s not the kind of soul-scarringly upsetting short that we’ve seen nominated here in the past. Meyer Levinson-Blount’s film tells the story of Samir (Omar Sameer), an Arab butcher at a supermarket in Tel Aviv. Under the shadow of the current war in Gaza, Samir is accused by his co-workers of tearing down missing posters of Israeli hostages that have been hung up in the employee break room. Samir maintains his innocence, but it’s clear that his co-workers’ accusations are being taken more seriously than Samir’s assurances.
Levinson-Blount effectively boils a geopolitical disaster into a lower stakes conflict between individuals, showing how Israeli society values the words and experiences of certain members of their citizenry over others’. While this is a smart way to show the inherent unfairness of their unequal society, the short approaches it in an overly simplistic manner. This may be owing to the obvious limitations of short films, but regardless, it still feels frustrating. Chief among the more vexing aspects of the film is the way that characters – especially Samir – hold back relevant information, seemingly only for dramatic purposes. Couple this with a general low energy, and this short is easily the most disappointing of this year’s nominees. (Watch on Kanopy here)
Grade: C+
A Friend of Dorothy (21m)
To those in the know, the title of A Friend of Dorothy immediately foretells where the story is going. Filmmaker Lee Knight’s short is impossible to describe without using nonthreatening adjectives like “sweet,” “heartwarming,” and “touching,” and there’s little more to take from it than such warm feelings. But that’s not the worst impression a short film can make, and this one is more concerned with touching its audience than leaving a lasting mark on the lives of those that see it.
The titular Dorothy is played by the legendary Miriam Margolyes. Her quiet life is interrupted when a teenager named JJ (newcomer Alistair Nwachukwu) accidentally kicks a football (that’s a soccer ball for my fellow Yanks) into her yard. Rather than sending him off with his ball, Dorothy welcomes him into her home, where she has lived alone since her husband’s passing. The most impressive part of her home is undoubtedly her well-stocked library, which is full of plays. JJ is clearly drawn to these scripts and Dorothy, seeing something in the boy that even he may not recognize yet, encourages him to read from the scripts in what becomes something like an amateur acting class. Their unexpected bond quickly strengthens as the pair meets at Dorothy’s every day, injecting both of their lives with a newfound energy that they both clearly needed.
Dorothy is charmingly foul-mouthed and blunt, although never in an off-putting way, much like the actress herself. And Nwachukwu makes an incredible impression, signaling a promising start to a hopefully fruitful career. The acting pair’s chemistry and strong individual performances are undoubtedly the short film’s most successful element, which is otherwise as pleasant but ultimately unfulfilling as a teacake. (Watch here)
Grade: B-
Jane Austen’s Period Drama (13m)
Jane Austen’s Period Drama is the briefest and, by far, the lightest of this year’s live action short nominees. Its number one goal is to make the audience laugh and by that measure, it’s wildly successful. As the title indicates, it’s set in England sometime around the early 19th century. Revealing the title to be a double entendre, it focuses on what would happen if a typically Austenian heroine suddenly got her period in the middle of one of the author’s trademark swoony yet repressed romances. What follows is a hilarious and unexpectedly sweet exploration of the ways that society has struggled throughout history to discuss this totally normal bodily function that half of the world’s population experiences.
The comedic sensibilities of the short are perfect, squeezing humor out of every second of its minimal runtime. The dialogue is hysterical, both in the ways that it adheres to the standards of Austen’s style and in the moments that break the form. Even the characters’ names are funny; the casual way that titles like Miss Bumblesnatch and Sir Hangledangus are simply tossed off is just perfect. And the comedic timing and humorous facial expressions of leading lady and co-director Julia Aks excellently set the tone for the film. Remarkably, the joke-forward short film manages to deliver a surprisingly effective commentary about how women have had to hide biological truths and make their lives harder for the comfort of men for centuries. Overall, it can’t help but feel a bit disposable, like something out of Drunk History or a longer-than-usual Saturday Night Live sketch, but in terms of accomplishing what it intends to, Jane Austen’s Period Drama is a success. (Watch here)
Grade: B+
The Singers (17m)
Director Sam A. Davis adapts an 1852 story by Russian writer Ivan Turgenev into this short film, which moves the setting to a bar somewhere in present day America. As with all good stories set in watering holes, this features a large and colorful cast of (notably all male) characters, not that we get to know them very well. The Singers isn’t interested in their backstories or their personalities. Instead, it focuses on the unifying power of music. A discussion arises about which of the bar residents has the best singing voice, prompting the men to individually showcase their vocal abilities to surprising results.
It’s a simple concept told with brevity, focusing on mood rather than plot. Davis effectively transports viewers to the unremarkable setting, thanks to gorgeously evocative 35mm cinematography. He makes the bar feel appropriately dim and smoky while never sacrificing visual clarity. The atmosphere is so effectively conjured that you can practically smell the cigarette smoke and spilled beer. And when the men perched unsteadily on barstools let go of their inhibitions and give in to the joyful expressiveness of song, it’s undeniably nice to watch. The Singers feels like a good, uneventful night out with drinking buddies: fun and pleasant, but ultimately not something you’ll think about much the next day. (Watch on Netflix here)
Grade: B
Two People Exchanging Saliva (36m)
It seems like every year, the Academy nominates at least one film in one of its three shorts categories with an attention-grabbing, marquee-filling title. In recent years, we’ve had gems like Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl), My Year of Dicks, An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It, and Yuck! This year’s curiously-titled short film is Two People Exchanging Saliva. Not only is the title notably bizarre, but the awkwardness of this assemblage of words is actually thematically relevant within the story itself. The French film from writer-directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh takes place in a casually dystopian world. Clearly, the citizens have adapted to the restrictive reality they live in with shocking ease; it’s an eerie mirror of the way that our real world society can easily slide into authoritarianism when oppressive changes are made incrementally rather than swiftly. Here, the rules and ways of this parallel universe aren’t explicitly detailed, but through banally-deployed context clues, it appears that money has been replaced with slaps, as customers receive smacks from store employees, and more slaps indicates a good or service is of a higher value. But an even more shocking change is the complete outlawing of kissing, even in private. Even the word is forbidden, with the film’s clinical title being the permissible way to refer to the act of affection.
The short film (with gorgeous black-and-white photography emphasizing the harsh, stark way of the world) tells an understated but moving story of the irrepressible human desire for connection. Add in themes of suppressed queerness, and this one is sure to resonate with the yearners. Clever bits of world-building, such as the common use of “garlic gum” to ward off potential smoochers, add dimension to the film, making it short in length but deep in meaning. Of the five nominees in this category, it’s undoubtedly the one that could most easily be expanded into a feature film. This isn’t necessarily the mark of a great short, but in this case, it shows just how much depth and meaning the filmmakers have infused into the short. It tells an upsetting story with a gentle touch, with a high level of quality from its craft elements that’s not often found in short films, and it’s the best film in its category. (Watch here)
Grade: A-
Oscar Chances
Based on subjective quality and sheer cinematic accomplishment, Two People Exchanging Saliva may seem like the most likely winner. It’s the nominee that could most easily be turned into a feature, and that kind of layered storytelling and impressive production value has benefitted recent winners like The Long Goodbye and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. The 2018 victor Skin was even turned into a feature length film of the same name. On the other hand, the topicality of Butcher’s Stain may compel Academy members to give it their vote. Recent winners The Long Goodbye, Skin, and Two Distant Strangers all centered around timely sociopolitical issues, although those films all approached their sensitive topics with a more bombastic, shocking energy than the comparatively low key Butcher’s Stain. The Singers also feels like the kind of inoffensive story told with simplicity that may not inspire much passion, but it likely won’t have many haters. And sometimes, having the widest appeal is the best way to victory.
He currently resides in Chicago and is a proud member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. He also writes and podcasts for Next Best Picture and co-hosts his own podcast “Halloweeners: A Horror Movie Podcast.” You can follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Bluesky @codymonster91
- A Guide to the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short Films - February 26, 2026
- A Guide to the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Live Action Short Films - February 26, 2026
- A Guide to the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films - February 26, 2026
A Guide to the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short Films 
A Guide to the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Live Action Short Films 
A Guide to the 2026 Oscar-Nominated Animated Short Films 
‘DTF St. Louis’ Review: Jason Bateman and David Harbour Star in Sex and Death Mystery That’s Mostly Flaccid [D]