SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! There are clots to love with the magnificent menstrual animated short A Bloody Situation, written, directed, and animated by Nerian Keywan. Young teen Nara (Aida Kaadan) is helping out in the hair salon with her mother (Mouna Hawa). Nara is sullen, not feeling the whole salon thing right now. However, she is told to shape up quickly, as Ms. Moodswings has entered the establishment.
Ms. Moodswings is a towering clot of menstrual blood, with many eyes circling the wide base of her head. Ms. Moodswings wonders aloud whether the salon really needs her business. Nara’s mother bends over backwards for the wad of period blood, ordering Nara to make Ms. Moodswings welcome, as if she were a regular.
“Ms. Moodswings is a towering clot of menstrual blood, with many eyes circling the wide base of her head.”
This is a bloody good animated short. What impresses me about Keywan’s work is how a smart gag is elevated to unimaginable refinement. The concept of the giant glob of anthropomorphic blood is a laugh riot, of course. However, Keywan strikes a tone of ominous power with the mysterious bodily function. You will gaze into the clot’s many eyes and not come out.
Where this all ends up has to be seen to be believed. Let’s just say I will never look at Candyland the same again. What Keywan makes sure there are heavier themes at play, but the sheer wonder of the finale overwhelms your senses. I want to go back to the end again and again. A Bloody Situation is a sparkling reconditioning of a messy condition that runs deep. It is worth spotting.
"…the sheer wonder of the finale overwhelms your senses."
