Every year, in the lead-up to the Academy Awards, I sit down and watch as many of the 2026 Oscar-nominated films as possible. For the Animated Short portion of this daunting task, I bring in my kids, and we make a night out of watching these various shorts and talking about them (did we like them, what did we like, is there something we should talk about). Well, that practice was put to the test when we put on Florence Miailhe’s Papillon (French for Butterfly).
Going in, I knew nothing about the painstakingly animated short chronicling the life of French Olympic swimmer Alfred Nakache, so I had no idea that I was about to watch one of the most beautiful yet harrowing stories. I ended the experience by discussing one of humanity’s darkest chapters in a conversation I wasn’t quite ready for…
