With Friends Like These, Who Needs X-Rays?
We all carry something—sometimes it’s just a laptop and three crumpled granola bar wrappers, sometimes it’s a full-blown emotional deadweight with a carry-on tag. And then there’s “Baggage,” the five-minute stop-motion short animated by Lucy Davidson, that takes this cliché and spins it (literally) down an airport conveyor belt. The first time I watched, I laughed. Then I cringed. Then—no kidding—I checked my own emotional inventory and realized I’d fail security.
Davidson, fresh off working on Adam Elliot’s “Memoir of a Snail,” landed at Aardman Animation Studios Academy and made this as her solo flight. No, really. It’s an Aardman flick in spirit, but these weird, squishy puppet girls are hers—you can practically feel her hands in the clay. “Baggage” isn’t just a riff on “emotional baggage”—it’s a well-timed X-ray for anyone bold enough to look.
The Conveyor Belt as Therapy Couch
Let’s talk premise. Three friends at the airport, giggling, checking their bags. But one—of course there’s always one—has a case that won’t quite close. (We all know her, or are her. Don’t deny it.) As their suitcases glide to security, the metaphor grows claws. Davidson teases out the social terror of being seen, really seen, by those closest to you—disaster, secrets, bad hair days and all. Under her playful Aardman-trained hand, the emotions aren’t just voiced (hat tip to Eve Eloise Gilbert, Sophie Schoorman, Dominik Shields, Camillo Sancisi) but physically manifest, oozing out of felt and foam like they’re bound for TSA’s odd-items pile.
The score—courtesy of Sam Harding and Alex Olijnyk—winks, but doesn’t nudge. And the baggage? Hilarious. Mortifying. Specific. That moment where a friend’s bag bursts open and everyone pretends not to notice? Nailed it.
SXSW, Sydney, and Secrets on Display
You want credibility? The film premiered at the Sydney Film Festival and SXSW 2025. Not bad for an oddball five-minute short made in the hallowed halls of Aardman Academy, Bristol. If you’re the type who tracks short films (guilty), that’s top-tier stuff. According to SOTW, Davidson’s piece is debuting online now, after those festival bows. For more on the filmmaker, dig into her Vimeo, official site, or @lucy_maree_davidson on IG. Go ahead, get nosey—it’s encouraged.
Dread, Laughter, Repeat
Here’s the thing: “Baggage” is riotously funny until it suddenly isn’t, and then it is again. It’s not didactic—Davidson trusts you to get it, or see yourself in the frazzled claymation faces. One minute you’re in on the joke, the next you’re staring into the abyss of your own tote bag of mistakes, secrets, loves lost, whatever.
Is it a masterpiece? Maybe. Is it needed? Absolutely. Would I smuggle it through customs just to make a friend feel seen? Every time.
Suggested Header Image
A wide shot of Lucy Davidson hunched over her animation setup at Aardman Academy, superimposed with the main puppet trio riding the conveyor belt—one bag clearly overflowing with secrets.
