{"id":11971,"date":"2026-05-31T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=11971"},"modified":"2026-05-24T14:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T14:36:39","slug":"a-fable-built-from-beauty-and-misery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/a-fable-built-from-beauty-and-misery\/","title":{"rendered":"A Fable Built From Beauty and Misery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 50 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

MOVIE REVIEW
\nMariana Ant (Mariana Hormiga)<\/strong>
\n –  <\/strong> <\/strong> <\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre: <\/strong>Drama, Fantasy, Satire, Short
\nYear Released: <\/strong>2025, 2026
\nRuntime: <\/strong>16m
\nDirector(s): <\/strong>Maite Uzal, Rubén Pascual Tardío
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Maite Uzal
\nCast:<\/strong> Úrsula Tomás Abril, Maite Uzal, Alfonso Desentre, Magüi Mira, Isabel Ordaz, Pepe Viyuela
\nWhere to Watch:<\/strong> shown at the 2026 Cerdanya Film Festival, Festival du Film Merveilleux & Imaginaire<\/p>\n

\n

RAVING REVIEW: <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>MARIANA ANT feels like a children’s story that’s been left out in the sun too long. Beneath the handmade fantasy, exaggerated performances, and theatrical surrealism sits something unexpectedly bitter. Maite Uzal and Rubén Pascual Tardío treat the film’s cruelty with complete sincerity, allowing the darker turns to land without softening them through irony or self-awareness. The result is strange, funny, uncomfortable, and occasionally sad in ways that sit with you longer than you’d expect from a sixteen-minute short.<\/p>\n

\n

Set in the fictional region of Thorbat, the film follows a mother and daughter who survive by begging and who exist on opposite ends of the moral spectrum. Mariana admires ants for their discipline and tireless labor. Her mother, meanwhile, dreams of effortless wealth and resents nearly everything around her. The setup initially resembles a traditional fable, but the film gradually twists that framework into something darker and more satirical. Wishes are granted, transformations occur, and consequences arrive with an almost cruel inevitability.<\/p>\n

What makes the short work so effective is its commitment to its own internal logic. Characters are presented in a way that feels intentional, almost like figures pulled from an old cautionary tale rather than a modern story. Yet the emotions underneath them remain recognizable enough to keep the story grounded. Greed, resentment, innocence, vanity, and desperation drive nearly every interaction, giving the film a clarity that cuts through even its strangest moments.<\/p>\n

MARIANA ANT creates an atmosphere that feels suspended outside time. The production design, costumes, and locations evoke the texture of an old folk tale while maintaining a handmade intimacy that suits the film’s scale. Rather than trying to disguise budget limitations through aggressive editing or excess, the directors lean into physicality. Props feel tactile. Costumes look worn-in. Even the stranger visual elements retain an earthy quality that prevents the fantasy from floating away.<\/p>\n

That tactile approach becomes especially important because the film constantly flirts with imagery that's hard to pin down. A lesser production could’ve easily crossed into self-conscious whimsy, but MARIANA ANT avoids that trap by treating it as perfectly normal within the world itself. Nobody pauses to explain the oddities. Nobody reacts with exaggerated disbelief. The film simply presents its visuals with complete confidence and moves forward.<\/p>\n

The influence of Spanish surrealism is all over the film. However, it never feels trapped in imitation; instead, it channels those inspirations into something harsh and direct. The satire here isn’t an abstract intellectual exercise. It’s rooted in class resentment, selfishness, exploitation, and the desperation that poverty can create. The humor often lands with a sting attached.<\/p>\n

Úrsula Tomás Abril carries much of that as a young Mariana. Her performance avoids the artificiality that child performances in fantasy projects sometimes fall into. She feels connected to the world around her, particularly during the scenes involving music and her fascination with ants. There’s an innocence to the performance that never feels forced, which matters because the film repeatedly contrasts that innocence with increasingly harsh circumstances.<\/p>\n

Maite Uzal’s performance as the mother operates in complete contrast. She brings bitterness into nearly every frame without turning the character into a caricature. The mother’s ugliness comes less from outright villainy and more from emotional rot that’s clearly accumulated over years of frustration and resentment. That gives the relationship more texture than a simple good-versus-evil setup. Mariana’s kindness becomes more painful because it exists so close to someone consumed by selfishness.<\/p>\n

The film’s commitment to symbolism occasionally creates some distance. Some viewers may struggle to connect with the characters beyond their allegorical functions because the film prioritizes momentum over psychological depth. The impact comes more from the story's growing cruelty and sadness than from deep character exploration. That choice fits the fairy-tale structure, but it does create moments when the film feels colder than it probably intends. Even that distance becomes part of the film’s identity. MARIANA ANT isn’t trying to function as a fantasy. It’s much closer to older cautionary tales where magic often carried punishment alongside wonder. The film understands that darkness and never apologizes for it.<\/p>\n

There’s also something refreshing about how handcrafted the entire production feels. In an era where fantasy increasingly relies on CGI, MARIANA ANT embraces imperfection, texture, theatricality, and strange visual specificity. You can feel the artistic personality behind nearly every frame.<\/p>\n

The final stretch carries a sadness underneath the satire that gives the film surprising emotional weight. Beneath the surrealism, humor, and folkloric presentation lies a story about innocence colliding with greed and the ugly ways in which desperation can distort human behavior. MARIANA ANT feels like the work of filmmakers more interested in creating something memorable than in anything else. That decision won’t work for everyone, but it’s exactly why the short stands out. It embraces oddity without becoming chaotic, darkness without losing its sense of wonder, and satire without flattening its humanity. By the end, the film feels less like a modern short and more like an old cautionary tale rediscovered decades later, still strange enough to unsettle people.<\/p>\n

Please visit https:\/\/linktr.ee\/overlyhonestr for more reviews.<\/p>\n

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.<\/p>\n

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please don't hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.<\/p>\n

[photo courtesy of COSMOS FAN COMUNICACIÓN, MARÍA TERESA UZAL RODRÍGUEZ, DISTRIBUTION WITH GLASSES]<\/em><\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER:<\/strong>
\nAt Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.<\/p>\n

Amazon Affiliate Links:<\/strong>
\nAdditionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support as you navigate these links.<\/p>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOVIE REVIEW Mariana Ant (Mariana Hormiga) –      Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Satire, Short Year Released: 2025, 2026 Runtime: 16m Director(s): Maite Uzal, Rubén Pascual Tardío Writer(s): Maite Uzal Cast: Úrsula Tomás Abril, Maite Uzal, Alfonso Desentre, Magüi Mira, Isabel Ordaz, Pepe Viyuela Where to Watch: shown at the 2026 Cerdanya Film Festival, Festival du Film Merveilleux […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}