Review: Retirement Plan

Overview:

Retirement Plan is a 2025 Irish short film, only lasting around seven minutes. The simple monologue showcases a middle-aged man as he looks ahead to his future after leaving the workforce. After receiving a number of accolades at international film festivals, the short was also nominated for “Best Animated Short Film” at the 98th Academy Awards.

Our Take:

The short starts out simply enough, with our protagonist simply thinking about finally having the chance to do the things we don’t have the time to do. Some of these things are a bit more ambitious, while others are just simple things people often take for granted, from growing a vegetable to fixing that hole in the wall.

However, reality soon sets in as we see the protagonist waste away, and his plans take on a double meaning. He notes that he will take care of himself better, as the animation shows him being treated by staff in a retirement home. Still, there is also room for ambiguity. He notes he’ll cry less when the animation shows him at a funeral. The obvious takeaway is that he will soon grow accustomed to losing loved ones, but it’s also tempting to think he just didn’t like the guy.

Of course, the final moments have a little fun, with him sharing his plans for after his death. Mainly, he plans to haunt his apparently surviving old school nemesis. Of course, he muses that there could be a Heaven out there, meaning that we really do have eternity to finally get a happy ending.

In many ways, the simple short can resonate with a lot of people. Obviously, there are people who are in the same position as the protagonist, whether at the start or towards the end.

On the other hand, with many people struggling to find financial security or even a living wage over the past few decades, things like even getting to retire can feel like just as much of a fairy tale as anything Disney produced. And this can even come with some sort of resentment towards people who were given these opportunities much more easily.

Ultimately, the ending, suggesting that there could be a happy ending for us after all, does offer some hope in this world. It’s a simple story that asks the universal question of what comes next. Overall, it’s a simple short, but it certainly does its job. It really makes you think.

Besides, no matter what, haunting your old school nemesis is just plain cathartic.