The aliens among us: close encounters of the teenage kind

Between raging hormones and awkward, uncontrollable physical changes, puberty tends to be a stage of life most people would like to forget. In this animated short, the Finnish director Laura Lehmus offers a playful, sympathetic reminder of what it’s like to feel strange in your own skin. In a series of candid interviews on the challenges of puberty, adolescents cover mysterious mood swings, annoying parents and unexpected crushes. In a clever twist, Lehmus pairs every voice with its own cartoon alien, each created by a different animator to capture the subject’s unique set of struggles. Original and oh-so-relatable, AlieNation is a charming reflection on the confusing years when ‘you are a kid and an adult at the same time’.