Retirement Plan

Watch the Irish director John Kelly’s “Retirement Plan” and, if you are in any way creative or ambitious, you’ll kick yourself wondering, Why didn’t I think of that? Because it’s so simple: a list of things a man named Ray hopes to do after he quits working. The animation is just as straightforward as the premise, the figures closer to Martin Handford’s Waldo—of “Where’s Waldo?” fame—than to anything Pixar’s turned out. The character’s eyes are dots, or light reflecting off glasses, and the script is mostly presented in a voice-over by the actor Domhnall Gleeson.

In director John Kelly’s ( Fern ) Retirement Plan , protagonist Ray dreams of everything he’ll be able to do once he retires. The growing list of tasks and goals he is setting for himself gradually revealing a much deeper portrait of the person he currently is.Retirement Plan is shaping up as one of the strongest contenders in the race for the Best Animated Short Film award at the 2026 Oscars.The film premiered in Galway in 2024 before its international premiere at the 2025 edition of SXSW, where it won both the Grand Jury and the Audience awards.