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Tim Miller’s Love, Death + Robots has long stood as one of the coolest shows of the streaming age. After years of animated shorts hiding on bizarre websites and quick snippets of broadcast TV never to be seen again, this series has given adult animation a real platform. Love, Death + Robots can be as gory, gross, nihilistic, and perverse as any director or writer wants their short to be. The only real rule is that it also has to be good.
That’s especially true of Volume III, by far the strongest season this anthology series has ever produced. Typically when it comes to this show, there are a couple of masterpieces and a sprinkling of duds. Not this time around. Volume III only offers all-stars. But even among this stellar crop of shorts, some emerge stronger than others. Consider this Decider’s ranking of the best of the best this new season of Love, Death + Robots has to offer.
"Three Robots: Exit Strategies"
Director: Patrick Osborne
Writer: John Scalzi
Animation Studio: Blow Studio
The “Three Robots” sketches are never bad. But when compared to some of the other shorts in this season, this entry is clearly the weakest — and silliest — link. The three robots go on another field trip to see how humans lived during the final days of the apocalypse. What starts as a dark premise quickly turns into a surprisingly fun lambasting of class divides.
"Swarm"
Director: Tim Miller
Writer: Tim Miller and Philip Gelatt
Animation Studio: Blur Studio
There’s a fine line between visually gorgeous and objectively terrifying. “Swarm” uses that line as its jumprope. Two scientists go on a mission to learn about an insectoid species known as the swarm. But as their research progresses, it becomes clear that their ultimate goal is to use these creatures as bioweapons, and the queen isn’t OK with that. As cool as the graphics are, “Swarm” is basically James Cameron’s Avatar with more legs, a shorter run time, and a creepier ending.
"Kill Team Kill"
Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Writer: Philip Gelatt
Animation Studio: Titmouse, Inc.
Sometimes you don’t want your animation to tell a heart-wrenching story about what it means to be human. Sometimes you just want to see some military men fight a giant robot bear. That’s exactly what “Kill Team Kill” delivers along with some of the all-time coolest action sequences in the history of this show. Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson truly takes the fighting in this one a step beyond. But where “Kill Team Kill” falters is in its substance. There are just too many high quality shorts that also have an interesting message for it to be higher on this list. Still, grizzled Joel McHale is a big plus.
"Mason's Rats"
Director: Carlos Stevens
Writer: Joe Abercrombie
Animation Studio: Axis Studios
Who knew that the one of the funniest and most morally introspective shorts would have to do with rats? A farmer in a future version of Scotland becomes distressed when he discovers that he has a rat infestation. The catch? The rats have started to use tiny tools of their own. As Mason the farmer invests in progressively more ridiculous killing robots, the short questions what we as humans owe to the species we disturb and when do we need to start respecting animal intelligence.
"In the Vaulted Halls Entombed"
Director: Jerome Chen
Writer: Philip Gelatt
Animation Studio: Sony Pictures Imageworks
In many ways, “In the Vaulted Halls Entombed” shares a lot of DNA with “Kill Team Kill.” Both follow military teams on an increasingly hopeless mission, and both gleefully portray the graphic deaths of these team members. But Chen’s short replaces the sexist jokes of “Kill Team Kill” with its major selling point: a Cthulhu type of monster. More fictional cosmic gods, please.
"Night of the Mini Dead"
Director: Robert Bisi and Andy Lyon
Writer: Robert Bisi and Andy Lyon
Animation Studio: BUCK
At this point, it’s hard to find a new angle on the zombie apocalypse. Yet that’s exactly what this six-minute short does. Using only miniature figurines and sets, “Night of the Mini Dead” chronicles the zombie apocalypse from the moment two horny idiots unleashed the undead until the eventual destruction of Earth. Who knew worldwide terror could be this cute?
"The Very Pulse of the Machine"
Director: Emily Dean
Writer: Philip Gelatt
Animation Studio: Polygon Pictures
Director Emily Dean’s short is one of those installations that’s so beautiful, it’s emotional. After a crash landing that ends in the death of her partner, astronaut Martha Kivelson (Mackenzie Davis) is left alone on a deserted planet. She’s forced to drag her dead friend with her so that she can replenish her dwindling oxygen supply. Between her exhaustion and the drugs she uses to keep going, things get weird fast. The beauty of this story rests in its uncertainty. Until the very end, you don’t know if what Martha is experiencing is real or another hallucination.
"Bad Travelling"
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker
Animation Studio: BLUR
This installment from David Fincher is just a damn good ghost story. A ship at sea becomes the home of a giant man-eating crustacean that demands to be taken to nearby island. The crew has two choices: save themselves and unleash this monster on thousands of innocent people or trick the beast and likely die themselves. A lot of the creepiness comes from this crab-monster’s terrifying pinchers and gaping mouth lined with teeth. But the true horror of this story emerges from the crew as it examines the never-ending limits of man’s selfishness.
"Jibaro"
Director: Alberto Mielgo
Writer: Alberto Mielgo
Animation Studio: Pinkman.TV
Since its first season, Love, Death + Robots has promised to give ambitious, experimental, adult animation a mainstream platform. “Jibaro” is the absolute best example of that promise, a short that would almost certainly not be on streaming if not for this show. Set in the jungles of Puerto Rico, a group of conquistadors and priests are stopped when the deaf conquistador Jibaro disrupts a mysterious gold-clad water siren. Though her screams and disturbing yet erotic dances cause the rest of the men to launch themselves into a frenzy, Jibaro is immune. The rest of the dialogue-free short follows Jibaro and this siren’s complex relationship in an installment that explores man’s greed, responsibility to Mother Nature, and the many forms lust can take.
