Memento Mori - so make the most of it !

Synopsis

Memento Mori: So Make the Most of It! is an anti-exploitation animated short film rejecting the adage “work hard and you will be rewarded.” The film follows a nonbinary person, Dead Human Walking (DHW), on their way to work. They are struck by a taco truck when jaywalking in reaction to their boss’s impatient badgering. After being struck, they enter a psychedelic In-Between where they meet a Grim Reaper named Red, whose situation is more like their own than they could ever know. After a brief scuffle, DHW returns to the World of the Living with their priorities shifted away from their job and towards taking care of themself. The film draws on the rich history of psychedelic art to communicate altered states of consciousness and revelations found therein. Its visual design also draws inspiration from the work of underground comic artists like Jamie Hewlett, Mike Mignola, and Jhonen Vasquez.

• Development Documents
• Philosophical Elements
• Where to Watch?
• Cast and Crew

Dead Human Walking

Voiced by Link Stewart, Dead Human Walking is the first main character of Memento Mori.A nonbinary retail worker who uses strictly they/them pronouns, Dead Human Walking is a free spirit, stubborn as they come, and determined to make the most of their life after their near-death experience.Following their meeting with a Grim Reaper named Red, Dead Human Walking rejects their own death to return to the World of the Living in order to live a more fulfilling life, resolving to quit their job and never endure exploitation from an authority figure ever again.

Red Reaper

Voiced by Mystic Waterz, Red is the second main character of Memento Mori.A 26-year-old Black woman, Red has been a Grim Reaper for only 1 year, having died in 2011. She's still trying to learn the ropes, but she's already growing exhausted from the work. Grim Reapers work 24/7, as death stops for no one, and she feels that pressure immensely.Ordinarily a kind, compassionate person, in Memento Mori Red has been pushed to her breaking point, causing her to lash out against Dead Human Walking when they refuse to Move On into their Afterlife. This creates a great deal of extra work for Red, and she can't handle it.

Blue Reaper

Voiced by [??], Blue is a bonus character in Memento Mori, featuring only in the post-credits sequence.Blue is a nonbinary transmasculine Grim Reaper who prefers they/them pronouns. Having died in 1997, they've been a Grim Reaper for much longer than Red, and serve as her mentor, similar to a senior member of retail staff training the new hire. Unfortunately, they are not a very good mentor.Short-tempered, violent, and selfish, Blue is more interested in serving their own needs than helping others. It's lucky that Dead Human Walking's death wasn't assigned to Blue, as they're no stranger to employing violence as a first solution to any problem.