Experience the story ‘Butterfly Kiss,’ the Stunning 2024 animated short film by Zohar Dvir. A story of love and memory, told in a single, fleeting moment. Watch now.
🦋 Butterfly Kiss (2024) — Animated Short Film by Zohar Dvir
In just 11 minutes, director Zohar Dvir delivers a hauntingly beautiful animated short that fuses romance, horror, and fantasy. Butterfly Kiss begins with a quarrel between two lovers and spirals into an apocalyptic dreamscape where love, fear, and transformation collide.
🧭 Overview
- Genre: Animation / Fantasy / Horror / Romance 🎭
- Director & Writer: Zohar Dvir 🎬✍️
- Cast:
- Carolina Lehan as Carol 💔
- Michal Porat as Ray 🦋
- Lior Dvir as Radio Broadcaster 📻
- Runtime: 11 minutes
- Country: Israel 🇮🇱
- Language: English
- Release Date: 2024
- Awards: 1 win & 9 nominations, including the Oscar‑qualifying Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival 🏆
Watch the shorts:
📖 Story in Brief
- Carol’s fear: She panics when her girlfriend Ray unexpectedly proposes, revealing her deep anxiety about change.
- The quarrel: Their fight escalates, leaving Carol isolated and unsettled.
- The nightmare: Carol wakes to an apocalyptic reality — the world collapsing around her.
- The transformation: To her horror, Ray has turned into a butterfly, a fragile yet powerful symbol of metamorphosis.
- The kiss: What follows is a surreal, unsettling embrace between love and loss, beauty and dread.
🎨 Creative DNA & Style
- Surreal animation: Dreamlike visuals blur the line between romance and horror.
- Symbolism: The butterfly embodies transformation, fragility, and the inevitability of change.
- Atmosphere: Radio broadcasts, eerie soundscapes, and apocalyptic imagery heighten the tension.
- Tone: Balances tenderness with dread, intimacy with catastrophe.
🌟 Themes & Resonance
- Fear of change: Carol’s panic reflects universal anxieties about commitment and transformation.
- Love & metamorphosis: Relationships evolve, sometimes painfully, into new forms.
- Queer intimacy: The film centers a same‑sex couple, exploring vulnerability and desire.
- Apocalypse as metaphor: The end of the world mirrors the collapse of Carol’s inner stability.
✅ Pros & ❌ Cons
Pros
- 🎯 Unique blend of genres: Romance, horror, and fantasy in one short.
- 🎨 Visually striking: Surreal imagery that lingers in memory.
- 🏆 Festival acclaim: Oscar‑qualifying win and multiple nominations.
Cons
- ⏳ Short runtime: Leaves viewers craving more of Carol and Ray’s backstory.
- 🌀 Ambiguity: The surreal ending may puzzle audiences seeking clarity.
💡 Humanized Takeaway
Butterfly Kiss is a reminder that love is never static — it transforms, sometimes beautifully, sometimes painfully. Zohar Dvir uses surreal animation to capture the fragility of intimacy, the terror of change, and the strange beauty of letting go. It’s a short that feels like a dream you can’t quite shake, equal parts tender and terrifying.
🔍 Find More & Watch
- Fabian&Fred profile — synopsis and production notes
- IMDb page — cast, crew, and production details
- Animation Magazine feature — festival accolades and Oscar qualification