Ninety-Five Senses (2022)
Directors: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess
Screenwriters: Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer
Starring: Tim Blake Nelson
Filmmaking couple Jared and Jerusha Hess present the animated short Ninety-Five Senses, an Academy Award-nominated film that uses flip-book style animation to trace a condemned man’s introspective thoughts as he awaits execution. The short is a concentrated, thoughtful piece that favors mood and metaphor over punchlines, drawing the viewer into a final hour when memory, regret, and curiosity intersect.
Jared and Jerusha Hess are well known for their quirky, offbeat work from the 2000s, and their name recognition carries weight in short-film circles. Though they made their mark with more overtly comedic projects earlier in their careers, this short shows them deliberately scaling back comedic flourishes in order to explore a more earnest tonal register. The result is a film that retains a touch of the Hesses’ idiosyncratic voice while placing human complexity at the center.
Tim Blake Nelson provides the first-person narration, speaking with a voice shaped by character and place. His Oklahoman cadence gives the central figure a specificity that grounds the film’s philosophical ambitions. The narration blends dry humor and melancholy, and the script introduces small narrative turns that gradually shift the viewer’s sympathy and understanding toward the protagonist. The short does not attempt to justify the character’s crimes; instead it enlarges his humanity, inviting viewers to consider what it means to be known only by a single, criminal act.
At its core, Ninety-Five Senses is an exploration of perception and hope. The title refers to a theory the protagonist mentions: that humans may possess far more senses than the traditional five, but are unable to access them. Facing the finality of death, he wonders whether his last moments might open a doorway to those elusive experiences. He talks through choices about his last meal and recounts memories, and through those recollections the film probes how memory and sensory detail shape identity.
Visually, the film favors high-contrast imagery, often using stark blacks and whites to carve the protagonist’s face and spaces in which he dwells. These contrasts emphasize the film’s meditative quality: instead of showing every detail, the animation suggests contours and emotions through shadow and line. Selective color punctuates key objects and moments, drawing attention to memories and sensory details that matter most to the character. The result is a minimalist aesthetic that amplifies what remains unsaid and what is felt rather than explained.
The short was animated through a collaborative effort involving multiple teams of artists working within a non-profit studio framework. Each sensory sequence—sight, smell, hearing, taste and the imagined additional senses—is treated by different artists with distinct visual approaches. This fragmentation mirrors the protagonist’s interior state and gives the film a textured, layered look. By assigning different segments to different creative voices, the film visually reinforces its central premise: perception is varied, subjective, and layered.
Because the project was produced outside a commercial framework and with a not-for-profit spirit, it avoids the pressure to conform to market expectations. That freedom allows the filmmakers to take creative risks, centering emerging animators and experimental techniques. The short’s charitable and collaborative production model is part of its appeal, but the film stands on its own merits: it is thoughtful, artfully rendered, and morally engaged without being preachy.
At roughly thirteen minutes, Ninety-Five Senses uses its runtime economically. It does not try to resolve the monumental ethical questions it raises; instead, it offers a compassionate lens on an often demonized figure, portraying him as a full human being capable of reflection, longing, and contradiction. The film invites viewers to sit with discomfort and ambiguity rather than reaching for easy answers.
The Hesses’ decision to temper their trademark eccentricities in favor of a restrained, contemplative approach demonstrates their versatility as filmmakers. Here, their sensibilities support a story that benefits from sincerity: the tonal restraint allows the animators’ varied styles and the narrator’s voice to carry emotional weight. The result is an animated short that is both accessible and thought-provoking, one that rewards careful viewing and lingers after it ends.
Score: 20/24
Rating: 4 out of 5.