Blort Night for Pow

Blort Night for Pow, a sci-fi animation film made on an iPad Pro by Ricardo Francisco Fernandez, is a necessary assault on your senses. It is a true representation of everything independent cinema is about. Released the first time around four years ago, the subject has only become more realistic each day. Absurd and satirical comedy is used as a vehicle to express important issues in a direct way that is difficult with actors and a studio.

Accompanied by immediate over-stimulation from the sound and animation, we are introduced to VER VERTIGO (Ricardo Francisco Fernandez), a homeless alcoholic. Fittingly, people are portrayed as cell phones with characters on their screen representing their person. A new game just started taking over called “BLORT NIGHT.” It’s excessively violent and convinces people to believe they have psychic powers. Everyone in VER’s life is encompassed by it, from her parents down to her boyfriend. That is why she decides to make “POW,” a game to combat all the violence and corruption she sees in the world. It is mathematically and scientifically calculated to bring peace, joy, and fulfillment to all who play it. Despite its capabilities, investors turned it down because they believed a game that promotes positivity could not garner a profit.

“…animation film made on an iPad Pro…”

While in a brutal conversation with her mother after her game’s rejection, she is abducted by sociopathic aliens CAPTAIN YUDOVFOO and ADMIRAL ATYMYRL (Ricardo Francisco Fernandez). They plan to use her and her game as pawns to destroy their enemies, the ZSAULTARANS. VER must overcome their manipulation tactics and memory-erasing technologies if she hopes to stop their genocide.

Some who oppose science fiction and animation believe that the genres lack humanity. For good reason: it’s hard to relate elements like pixels, intergalactic wars, and time travel to your own life. When it is done correctly, though, you are able to unpack emotions that translate to the deepest human struggles. In a way, it makes it one of the most effective options to capture the state of our lives today by showing us how insane the world has really become.

That is exactly what Blort Night for Pow does, showing that our lives may as well be an over-dramatized science fiction film. It makes you feel what it’s like to be human in 2024. You are constantly overstimulated and manipulated, and your history is erased. This is a very brave and thought-provoking film by Ricardo Francisco Fernandez.