The New Yorker Studios will release the animated short film “The Vandal” on Monday, December 13th on The New Yorker’s digital platforms. The film is a stunning technical feat, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky; directed by award-winning filmmaker Eddie Alcazar; starring Bill Duke, Baadja-Lyne Odums, Harry Goaz, Maurice Compte, Thomas Hildreth, and Abbey Lee; and scored by Oscar-nominated filmmaker and composer Kris Bowers. “The Vandal” débuted in July at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and had its North American première at the Telluride Film Festival.

Alcazar coined the term “meta-scope” to describe the intensively layered process used to achieve the film’s final effect—the closer the viewer gets to a subject, the more real it becomes. This visual technique combines stop motion and Unreal Engine.

Set in a world not unlike mid-20th century America, “The Vandal” centers on Harold, whose tormented search for peace from traumatic loss results in an unexpectedly destructive awakening after he undergoes a lobotomy. When the procedure “turns his mind inside out” and his great love is suddenly gone, Harold’s desperate search intensifies.

In addition to playing Cannes and Telluride, “The Vandal” has screened at Sitges and the Chicago International Film Festival.

“The Vandal” is presented by Darren Aronofsky; directed by Eddie Alcazar, who wrote the screenplay; produced by Javier Lovato and Thomas Hildreth; and executive produced by Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Sandy Haddad, Ted Robbins, and Matthew Krul.

“The Vandal” was acquired by The New Yorker Studios and will be featured as part of The New Yorker’s “Screening Room” series beginning December 13th. “The Screening Room” is a series of fictional films that will make you laugh, cry, and challenge your view of the mundane and the extraordinary. Previous films that have débuted as part of the series include “Yes People” (2021) and “Knife Skills” (2018), both of which received Oscar nominations.

Watch the trailer for The Vandal.