By far the busiest adult animation genre for film, you can see below our list includes full-length, quarter-hour shorts, drama, action, documentary, and more. This is because adult animation film in America are still very much in the early stages and still need time to grow. This is not to conflate with films that are produced in Japan, as that will be another list entirely.
10) Constantine: The House of Mystery
Constantine’s centuries of torture make for great entertainment. Especially when you pack it into a swallowable portion of a 25-minute short. This little film also makes excellent choices, including trying something different with the art style and bringing back long-running Constantine actor Matt Ryan. Meanwhile, as often as he seems to pop up, Constantine does not get the love he deserves as a character compared to some of his more bright and colourful comic book brethren. So, any extra content of the narcissistic brit is always worth a watch, especially when performed by Matt Ryan.
9) Mortal Kombat: Snow Blind
Overall, if you have already sat through the first two Mortal Kombat Legends movies, then go ahead and check this one out. Even if the by-the-numbers training montage with Kenshi felt cliche at times, it was a decent story that was effectively told. It may have felt like a completely different movie, but at the very least, it doesn’t forget that it’s a Mortal Kombat story while giving actual stakes with interesting and unexpected plot twists during its proceedings. And with the recent announcement of a 4th MK animated film on the way, I can’t wait to see what comes next!
8) Christopher at Sea
The Tom C J Brown-directed film produced by Miyu, Psyop, and Temple Carrington & Brown is a 2D hand-drawn animated film that immerses viewers into an artistic, visual experience around themes of identity and self-discovery. This latest project from Brown is yet another example of the creative driven director’s significant and influential work in the LGBTQ+ community and has been dubbed a “visionary queer director” by OUT Magazine.
7) Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons
The animation was top notch, and the movie made sense. There wasn’t a bunch of bullshit cobbled together, making the movie a pile of nonsense. This is all I can ask for. Is it on the level of Throne of Atlantis, or Batman vs. Robin? No, it isn’t even close. However, as as reintroduction to a possibly quality story, I’m in all in. This is the DC animated movie I want.
6) The Meneath
The visuals in this short film are eye-catching and really help make the story’s points hit home. Overall, this is a unique experience. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet and likes to think a little bit. It’s just under 20 minutes long, but I still think it can leave a lasting impact much longer than its runtime.
5) More Than I Want To Remember
But, now we need to see Paramount+ diversify. Much in the same way Netflix is a fantastic choice for animated comedies, dramas, and sci-fi, Paramount+ is going to do something similar. The lineage is on their side, however, as MTV has had an excellent history in diversifying it’s adult animation portfolio, so I have faith this will happen. Prime example, this new animated documentary short-film entitled More Than I Want To Remember.
4) It’s Nice In Here
Described as a visual poem, Koeyers displays all of the gritty details, but doesn’t editorialize anybody’s story, and instead presents both sides as straightforward as he can, which is horrifying enough without all of the extra fat that some may do to pad the millennial viewer stats.
3)THE ORIGINALS: The Changing Face Of Brooklyn
Not unlike what you can already get with most Martin Scorcese films, though I like the idea for this being a series of shorts that highlight old neighborhoods. I’m definitely on the side of Matty in thinking that yuppies ruin nice things, so hopefully this short can help bring some of that to light. The animation aesthetic is rustic and dirty, very indicative of throwback Brooklyn, I just wish we could’ve dove a little deeper into Matty’s entry into, what sounds to be, the mafioso. Those stories aren’t going to be around forever, this one was a good one.
2) The House
As if this thing wasn’t bonkers enough, the producers put together a stellar voice cast including the likes of Matthew Goode, Mia Goth, Jarvis Cocker (!!!!), and Helena Bonham Carter(!!!!!!) all putting together wonderful performances that will already be getting end of year award consideration for the year 2022. Netflix’s The House is not only a technical marvel, but a fantastical effort that hopes to push forth the animation genre with ensuing ripple effects that will be felt in years to come.
1) Absolute Denial
Absolute Denial was fucking great. Media like this, where I know next to nothing about it, is phenomenal for me to jump into. When the boss man messages me with “do this review because it has Pantheon/Matrix vibes,” I’m in, and I was taken away with the design choices. The audio hit differently, and the artistic direction was so different from what you see from most of the animation world nowadays. We need more of these types of movies. We don’t need overly produced audio, over the top animation, or an overly convoluted story. And Absolute Denial proved it.