The title of this short film has a double sense of humor that sums up its content and form. Flat meaning “apartment” but also the adjective “flat,” Flatlife is both a slice of life between two floors and the staging of a frontal space, without depth, whose aesthetic is very close to that of a comic book. The frame is divided into four sections like comic book panels, and the graphic style is that of the clear line, whose most famous representative is none other than the cartoonist Hergé, who, like director Jonas Geirnaet, is Belgian.
With its flat colors and black outlines, this minimalist style allows us to follow four stories at the same time, which constantly interfere with each other through the magic of apartment living—in a game of communicating vessels, the actions of some have very concrete sonic and visual consequences on the lives of others... Could this be a metaphor for our human condition? In any case, the film's humor, both burlesque and absurd—notably with the appearance of a flying panda!—will appeal to young and old alike, and perhaps make them see their neighbors in a slightly different light...
