So This Is Christmas: Dave Mullins’s Oscar-Winning Anti-War Short ‘War Is Over!’ Is Online Now

Dave Mullins’s Oscar-winning short War Is Over! (2023) is now available to watch online. An affecting short, it leans more on its central idea than on spectacle, though visually there’s plenty of that, too.

It’s our Cartoon Brew pick of the day.

Inspired by the Music of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Mullins centers the story on a lone carrier pigeon ferrying chess moves between two soldiers on opposite sides of a WWI-like conflict. The premise is simple, but the filmmaking leans into that simplicity, allowing small gestures like a trembling feather or the clack of a chess piece to carry the emotional weight. The absence of dialogue makes every aesthetic and sound choice that much heavier.

Starting off quietly, the short quickly escalates when fighting breaks out, and our two human protagonists, who have never met, are sent out from their respective trenches. We know they’re on a collision course, but they certainly don’t.

Visually, the team draws on period illustration, again, loosely inspired by early 20th-century military garb, and restrained, painterly color to create a world that feels grounded yet gently stylized. Built in Unreal Engine, the film shows how real-time animation can support intimate storytelling rather than overwhelm it.