MIOB In Shorts review: Marelle (2025)

MIOB In Shorts
Official Selection

There are not nearly enough short comedies to compete for awards alongside so-called serious films at major film festivals. Mostly dramas, experimental films, or documentaries win big. It is therefore wonderful to see two comedy titles competing for the MIOB In Shorts Award, the winner of which will be decided by the audience on “This Is Short” platform on 15 October.

Kristjan Poom’s student film Marelle, based on the short story “Mini Pig” by Urmas Vadi, is narrated in voice-over by Rein Pakk, who plays Markus, a simple family man with even simpler views on his ideal bourgeois life. In the opening scene, we see him standing alone on the beach with an empty gaze, deeply immersed in thoughts about something that caught him by surprise. Despite the serious tone of the spoken words, it is clear that no drama is unfolding before our eyes. Markus’s posture and his dramatic stare into the distance bear this out.

“Marelle” is a quintessential product of dry Northern humor that resists the temptation to resort to the direct mechanisms of light comedy. The bourgeois milieu of the suburbs is a backdrop that perfectly grazes the plot about neighborly relations doomed to conflict due to crazy circumstances caused by the appearance of a four-legged pet of a newly arrived family.

When the new neighbours move in, Markus and his wife Kaire (Külli Reinumägi) are happy to finally have someone next door they can socialize with, and they do everything to make the newcomers feel welcome. The initial enthusiasm fades with the arrival of a mini-piglet, to which the neighbors – Margus (Martin Kõiv) and Kairet (Lee Trei) – give the same name as their daughter, Marelle. Irritation is setting in, and the spouses decide to take action.

The film is exceptionally solid for a student project, and Kristjan Poom is the name to watch in the future. It is also important to mention Villem Rootalu, whose original score provides a harmonious accompaniment to “Marella”. It is a true rarity to come across a film where the music is constantly present yet never intrusive—offering, instead, a purely enjoyable experience.

You can watch the film, and cast your vote for it, here:

https://thisisshort.filmchief.com/hub/viewing-details/1270?sec=&back=section/189

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Original Title: Marelle
Country: Estonia
Language: Estonian
Runtime: 19′
Year: 2025
Directed by: Kristjan Poom
Written by: Mirell Talbre
Producer: Annaliisa Alla
DoP: Erik Kiviselg
Production Designer: Krister Ulrich Nittim
Costume Designer: Villem Erik Nittim
Composer: Villem Rootalu
Sound Designer: Gert Svetlanov
Editor: Cristopher Oskar Orav
Cast: Rein Pakk, Külli Reinumägi, Martin Koiv, Lee Trei, Mia Camilla Indov