Despite being a year of bad taste, 2020 also gave us a new film from Don Hertzfeldt, World of Tomorrow. Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime. Like the other parts, the third installment is also available to watch online through Vimeo for $6.10 as a rental and $9.00 for purchase (allowing viewing and downloading at any time). If you’re a follower of the Californian director’s filmography, and especially if you’ve seen the previous two works, the likelihood of being disappointed is very high. For example, it hasn’t disappointed us at all, though we’re still more in love with the first part.
Because even though World of Tomorrow 1 was a novelty and that makes it much more than this sequel in our memory, the truth is that the focus of World of Tomorrow 3 is completely new and also a surprise within the universe created by Hertzfeldt. The once misunderstood and somewhat crazy animation maker has gathered a group of fans and followers who eagerly embrace what he shows us.
So, if this is your first time approaching his work, or if you’ve arrived here not knowing much about him, our first recommendation would be to watch It’s such a Beautiful Day, the medium-length film composed of three short films which, similar to what he’s doing with World of Tomorrow, were presented year by year in parts, eventually forming a single whole after all the viewings. The difference between the two, as Don himself has indicated, is that based on the online success of the shorts, there might be several more parts left to see. From here, we hope so.
The Ocean of Time in World of Tomorrow 3: Love Between David and Emily
In World of Tomorrow. Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime, existentialism and science fiction continue to intertwine, just like in World of Tomorrow 2, leaving us with a feeling of emptiness and fulfillment simultaneously. On one hand, because we sense how small we are in the universe and in time. On the other hand, because an odd sense of joy overcomes us, considering what we might be even if we never are. Because perhaps we can’t be, though we think we can. Who knows.
However, let’s not forget the plot of this and the other parts of World of Tomorrow. Time travel and cloning, all explained and intricately woven so that the viewer can be carried away and play with the characters that appear throughout all the films, like a puzzle that, if we wish, we can piece together by watching each short film again and again.
Just as in the first part, when Emily told us she was proud to be sad, because that was feeling, with David Prime, we find ourselves in that mental state again. Although, in this case, the phrase that might leave a mark says that death is not a destination; it’s the absence of one. And in the face of this, what can we do? Well, nothing, enjoy good cinema, good music, the best books, and the best company.
If on top of that, your life allows you to enjoy even happier feelings, slightly fuller pleasures, and we don’t hurt each other, then I suppose that’s a good thing.
I watched and rated World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime on Monday Oct 12, 2020
(Madrid, 1987) Novelist by vocation, SEO specialist by profession. Music lover, cinephile and reading lover, but in “amateur” mode.