History WesternAnimation / Opal

** Opal then discovers that Claire improvised a bedroom in the attic, contempting herself of a pillow, a blanket, and a piece of white lace as a SecurityBlanket in this dusty and empty room. The only light comes from the little window where [[spoiler:she can watch Opal's Burgers billboard and imagine a more healthy life as the little girl of it]].

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Various shots throughout the film show the mother's hazy, drunken vision and warped perspective; the father's visual delusions of grandeur; and the (blind) grandfather's imaginings of the women he listens to on TV as lips with thin, glittering bodies. [[spoiler:And given the ending, the entire short is likely Claire's damaged perspective.]]

** When Opal gives the cigarettes to Claire's grandfather, Claire's grandfather gets suspicious of Opal because she's not talking; after smelling Opal, he concludes that Opal is not Claire and angrily demands that she leaves his house. This seems to confirm that Opal and Claire are two different people, [[spoiler:but with the ending that confirms Opal and Claire are the same person, this probably shows that the grandfather properly lost his sense of smell and was just confused that Claire wasn't talking]].
** Claire's mother begins to sing, implying a similar musical number as Claire's father and grandfather, only for the song to nightmarishly distort as a sequence of confusing visuals play.

** The grandfather escapes using by watching TV and smoking, both of which have left him incredibly unhealthy and overweight.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Though perhaps not quite ''evil'' so much as [[TroubledAbuser unwell]], both of Claire's parents intially act soft, but it's quickly revealed they care very little about their daughter. It's especially notable in the father's case: while seemingly the most polite out of the family, his voice stays fairly chipper even when insulting her. As well, for his seeming effort to connect with Claire, he never actually looks at her.
* {{Foil}}: Opal's mother, father and grandfather are kind, caring, loving and noticing her, unlike Claire's who are addicted to their coping mechanisms and so have very little time for their own flesh and blood. [[spoiler:It makes sense, as they represent what Claire wishes her parents and grandfather would be. The ideal mother's hands are also depicted behind her back out of view most of the time, in a tragic contrast to Claire's real mother, whose hands terrify Claire by grabbing her and threatening her with physical abuse. As well, the ideal father gives her genuine encouragement, unlike his real-world equivalent who only encourages himself.]]

** When Opal sneaks to the scary house, she bolts inside after being startled by a light behind her. [[spoiler:It's likely this was the billboard lights turning on, scaring Claire because she didn't yet want to face the reality of where she ''actually'' crossed the street from.]]

* {{Manchild}}: While talking to Opal about how he feels himself becoming more and more beautiful all the time, Claire's father describes himself feeling like a "small, growing thing," still becoming what he's meant to be. The irony that he's blind to, of course, is that as an adult talking to an ''actual'' child, he's grown about as much as he's likely to. [[spoiler:And of course, the even darker irony is that he's talking to his own growing child, whom he neglects.]]

* MythologyGag: [[spoiler:Opal, the girl on the billboard]] heavily resembles Abigail from Jack's earlier video "Cooking With Abigail".

* StepfordSmiler: Claire's father is the most overtly cheerful member of the household, but it does nothing to disguise the fact that he's a shallow, childish narcissist who is just as incapable of taking responsibility for his actions as any of the other adults in the family, and has to constantly put down his daughter's appearance to feel better about his own.

* WhamShot: When Opal finally reaches the attic, [[spoiler:nobody's there, so]] she walks through the room, [[BadBedroomBadLife only finding a pillow, a blanket and white lace among the dust]], then looks out the window from to her house. She finds [[spoiler:a billboard of Opal's Burgers that shows her "family" from the beginning of the short in its place, except with a different girl in the middle who vaguely looks like her; it reveals that "Opal" is Claire who built a fantasy world of a happy family life around it to escape from her neglectful family members]].
* YankTheDogsChain: Opal braves an abusive home because she wants to make a friend out of whoever's crying in the house across the street. At the very end she horrifyingly realizes [[spoiler:there is no friend. She has always been a member of this abusive family, and she is the one crying]].

* DaddysGirl: Implied. Opal focuses on her father a bit more in the opening scene, and in the ending, the father is the one that boops her on the nose, to her delight. Meanwhile, Claire's father appears to be the lesser of the evils among her neglectful family. He's the only one of the three to not threaten Opal with physical violence, and his scene features warped attempts to talk to his daughter, a level of engagement which comes closer to healthy than the other two family members' dynamics with her. He and Opal also seem to have something in common with a shared wish to be "seen." Notably, Opal only leaves the father when she's running from the grandfather. [[spoiler:Once you learn that Opal is Claire, it makes more sense why she would favor her father in the imaginary family.]]

** A FreezeFrameBonus suggests Claire's father may have empty sockets...

** Easy to miss, but as Opal's father sings "It's not where your attention ought to be, Opal," he's spinning Opal's eyes around with his fingers.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Though perhaps not quite ''evil'' so much as [[TroubledAbuser unwell]], both of Claire's parents intially act soft, but it's quickly revealed they care very little about their daughter. It's especially notable in the father's case: while seemingly the most polite out of the family, his voice stays fairly chipper even when insulting her. As well, for his seeming effort to connect with Claire, he never actually looks at her.
* {{Foil}}: Opal's mother, father and grandfather are kind, caring, loving and noticing her, unlike Claire's who are addicted to their coping mechanisms and so have very little time for their own flesh and blood. [[spoiler:They represent what Claire wishes her parents and grandfather would be. The ideal mother's hands are also depicted behind her back out of view most of the time, in a tragic contrast to Claire's real mother, whose hands terrify Claire by grabbing her and threatening her with physical abuse. As well, the ideal father gives her genuine encouragement, unlike his real-world equivalent who only encourages himself.]]

* HereWeGoAgain: PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:When we first see Claire as "Opal", she's making the same wrinkled face she does when she realizes how awful her home life is before relaxing as soon as she sees her dream family. By the end of the short it becomes evident that Claire has escaped to this fantasy before, and likely will do again, that the opening of the short followed another harrowing incident we weren't privy to, at that another incident will follow her necessary comeback to reality.]]

** [[spoiler:A brief glimpse of the father's face when the mirror spins and becomes Claire's face shows that the father's visage [[NightmareFace looks rotted and caved in]], most likely from all his attempts to "fix" his appearance backfiring and leaving him severely disfigured.]]

** The attic is also revealed to be Claire's bedroom, and besides a blanket, a pillow, and white lace, it's only a large and dusty attic.

* WhamShot: When Opal finally reaches Claire's room, [[spoiler:she only finds [[BadBedroomBadLife a dusty and empty attic]]]]. She walks through the room, finding a pillow, a blanket and white lace, then looks out the window from to her house. She finds [[spoiler:a billboard of Opal's Burgers that shows her "family" from the beginning of the short in its place, except with a different girl in the middle who vaguely looks like her; it reveals that "Opal" is Claire who built a fantasy world of a happy family life around it to escape from her neglectful family members]].

* {{Foil}}: The mother, father and grandfather at the beginning are all [[spoiler:what Claire wishes her parents and grandfather would be; kind, caring, loving and noticing her instead of being addicted to their coping mechanisms and having very little time for their own flesh and blood. The ideal mother's hands are also depicted behind her back out of view most of the time, in a tragic contrast to Claire's real mother, whose hands terrify Claire by grabbing her and threatening her with physical abuse. As well, Opal's father gives her genuine encouragement, unlike his real-world equivalent.]]

** The structure of the montage followed by the view from the window echoes the fact that [[spoiler:Claire escapes to her happy place after witnessing the adults' vices in action.]]

** The first shot of Opal starts with her tightly closing her eyes while frowning, before opening her eyes to see her family. [[spoiler:She makes a similar expression during her FreakOut towards the end before retreating back into her imagination.]]

* WhamShot: When Opal finally reaches Claire's room, [[spoiler:she only finds an dusty and empty attic]]. She walks through the room, finding a pillow, a blanket and white lace, then looks out the window from to her house. She finds [[spoiler:a billboard of Opal's Burgers that shows her "family" from the beginning of the short in its place, except with a different girl in the middle who vaguely looks like her; it reveals that "Opal" is Claire who built a fantasy world of a happy family life around it to escape from her neglectful family members]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Claire is still stuck in her horrendous life, with her only comfort being an imaginary world based on a UsefulNotes/{{billboard}} across her bedroom window. The final shot has her in a TroubledFetalPosition, imagining her fake family once again as her real family relentlessly bangs on the door, trying to get her out, while the final shot zooms back out of her head and the house, confirming that Claire is fantasizing, she's living a horrible life, and that the billboard really is the only thing across the street.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: Though perhaps not quite ''evil'' so much as [[TroubledAbuser unwell,]] both of Claire's parents intially act soft, but it's quickly revealed they care very little about their daughter. It's especially notable in the father's case: while seemingly the most polite out of the family, his voice stays fairly chipper even when insulting her. As well, for his seeming effort to connect with Claire, he never actually looks at her.

* HereWeGoAgain: PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:When we first see Claire as "Opal", she's making the same wrinkled face she does when she realizes how awful her home life is before relaxing as soon as she sees her dream family. By the end of the short it becomes evident that Claire has escaped to this fantasy before, and likely will do again, and that the opening of the short followed another harrowing incident we weren't privy to.]]
* InvertedTrope: The short film's setup of Opal spending time with her family happily for her to sneak off in the middle of the night into Claire's house is a tragic inversion of stories in which characters [[spoiler:leave their real lives to visit a world that represents their minds on some level, such as ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' and ''{{Film/Labyrinth}}''. Here, Claire leaves her mind to tragically rediscover the reality she lives in, and her "return" is her choosing to retreat into her mind again.]]

** Claire comes from the French word for "clear." Much of the short's symbolism revolves around sight, and who can or can't see clearly, and [[spoiler:Claire is Opal's true identity within the awful reality of her life.]]
* MistakenIdentity: When Opal enters the mysterious house across the street, its adult inhabitants mistake her for a family member named Claire. The grandfather is blind, the father is screened off by a wall of mirrors, and the mother is in a drugs-and-alcohol-induced haze, so none of them realize the little girl who's entered their home isn't their (grand)daughter. [[spoiler:Subverted and turned on its head with the reveal that "Opal" is a fantasy identity that was constructed as a coping mechanism, and we have been watching Claire all along.]]

* {{Narcissist}}: ''An entire family of them'', and they're as miserable as expected. The grandfather has constructed a deluded fantasy that mass media somehow revolves around him, the father spends all of his time obsessing over his physical flaws, trying to fix his appearance, and attempting to talk himself up, and the mother is an amorous type due to her obsession with someone who looks like her idealized version of herself. [[spoiler:Even the main character has shades of narcissism, mainly due to the lack of proper care and affection in her life, causing her to construct a fantasy in which her family obsesses over her]].

** After Claire's father casually puts down her appearance, he immediately follows it up with "Never mind, sorry, my brain," as if he just can't help himself.

* TheVoiceless: Opal doesn't speak at all in the entire short, with the only sounds she makes being a few screams, [[spoiler:the last one happening during TheReveal that she is actually the miserable Claire.]]
* WhamShot: When Opal finally reaches Claire's room, [[spoiler:she only finds an dusty and empty attic]]. She walks through the room, finding a pink pillow, a pink blanket and white lace, looks out the window from to her house, she finds [[spoiler:a billboard of Opal's Burgers that shows her "family" from the beginning of the short in its place, except with a different girl in the middle who vaguely looks like her, revealing that "Opal" built a fantasy world of a happy family life around it to escape from her neglectful family members]].

* EyelessFace: A case that overlaps with NightmareFace. A FreezeFrameBonus at the end of "Mirror Man" suggests Claire's father may have empty sockets... [[RuleOfSymbolism unless that's just how Claire envisions him.]]

** Claire's father is seen touching and manipulating his eyes during "Mirror Man", and at one point even ''applies makeup directly to his eye.''

** Claire's grandfather is a couch potato who spends all day watching television despite being blind.
** [[spoiler:A brief glimpse of the father's face when the mirror spins and becomes Claire's face shows that the father's visage looks rotted and caved in, most likely from all his attempts to "fix" his appearance backfiring and leaving him severely disfigured.]]

* HereWeGoAgain: PlayedForDrama: [[spoiler:when we first see Claire as "Opal", she's making the same wrinkled face she does when she realizes how awful her home life is before relaxing as soon as she sees her dream family. By the end of the short it becomes evident that Claire has escaped to this fantasy before, and likely will do again, and that the opening of the short followed another harrowing incident we weren't privy to.]]

* WhamShot: When Opal looks out the window from Claire's room to her house, she sees [[spoiler:a billboard of Opal's Burgers that shows her "family" from the beginning of the short in its place, except with a different girl in the middle, revealing that "Opal" built a fantasy world of a happy family life around it to escape from her neglectful family members.]]

* CuteMute: More like UglyCute Mute, but Opal[[spoiler:/Claire]] doesn’t speak a word throughout the film, but she’s still oddly adorable.

* UncannyValley: The entire short treads the line between subtle and visceral discomfort, but special mention goes to Opal's family, good lord. Their gazing eyes, wide mouths with real teeth, juxtaposed with their live-action bodies is enough to make anyone squirm. [[spoiler:Possibly justified, considering they don't really exist.]]

* UncannyValley: The entire short treads the line between subtle and visceral discomfort, but special mention goes to Opal's family, good lord. Their gazing eyes, wide mouths with real teeth, juxtaposed with their live-action bodies is enough to make anyone squirm. [[spoiler:Ironic, considering how they're actually the "good" family]].

It follows the story of a young girl who (while celebrating with her loving family) is haunted by the crying in her next-door neighbor's attic window, feeling lured toward it, and what ensues when she finally sneaks in and reaches it.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Claire is still stuck in her horrendous life, with her only comfort being an imaginary world based on a billboard across her bedroom window. The final shot has her in a TroubledFetalPosition, imagining her fake family once again as her real family relentlessly bangs on the door, trying to get her out, while the final shot zooms back out of her head and the house, confirming that Claire is fantasizing, she's living a horrible life, and that the billboard really is the only thing across the street.]]

* BolivianArmyEnding: {{Downplayed|Trope}} but still PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:The ending shows Claire in locked in her room trying to retreat into her imaginary fantasy world. As she does, her real family is banging on the door trying to get her out. [[DownerEnding And then it just ends right there with no real resolution]]. We are never shown what happens to Claire at this point but, from what we know, it likely won't be very pleasant.]]

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: In a ''very'' dark deconstruction, all of Claire's rely on her in some way to make themselves feel better, deliberately ignoring their actual issues. [[spoiler:This is showcased visually near the end of the short, where there are three scenes showing objects that the members of the family use to escape turning into Claire. For the grandfather, it's his eyes, as he uses her to see and get him cigarettes. For the father, it's his mirror, as he compares himself to Claire in order to feel better about his appearance and only uses her as a reflection of himself. And for the mother, it's a pill, showing that she views Claire as someone who is there to take care of her rather than the other way around.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: The last few seconds of the mother's song, "Virtuous Cycle," show what looks like a flashback to [[spoiler:a [[DomesticAbuse violent incident]], with images of a barred window, hands carrying a phone while dialing 911, and someone yelling before having their head and face smashed in by someone off-camera.]] Given the moment is so brief and never touched upon again, it is difficult to tell [[spoiler:whether the victim/aggressor in this incident was the mother or the father---particularly as the latter's face is never clearly shown anywhere the film---or even someone else in the mother's family, let alone what, if anything, provoked their attack to begin with.]]
* BaitAndSwitch: When Opal gives the cigarettes to Claire's grandfather, Claire's grandfather gets suspicious of Opal because she's not talking; after smelling Opal, he concludes that Opal is not Claire and angrily demands that she leaves his house. This seems to confirm that Opal and Claire are two different people, [[spoiler:but with the ending that confirms Opal and Claire are the same person, this probably shows that the grandfather properly lost his sense of smell and was just confused that Claire wasn't talking]].

* BolivianArmyEnding: {{Downplayed|Trope}} ''but still'' PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:The ending shows Claire in locked in her room trying to retreat into her imaginary fantasy world. As she does, her real family is banging on the door trying to get her out. [[DownerEnding And then it just ends right there with no real resolution]]. We are never shown what happens to Claire at this point but, from what we know, it likely won't be very pleasant.]]

* EyelessFace: A case that overlaps with NightmareFace. In spite of the below-noted trope, A FreezeFrameBonus at the end of "Mirror Man" suggests Claire's father may have empty sockets... [[RuleOfSymbolism unless that's just how Claire envisions him.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: Though perhaps not quite ''evil'' so much as [[TroubledAbuser unwell,]] both of Claire's parents can come off this way. It's especially notable in the father's case: while seemingly the most polite out of the family, his voice stays fairly chipper even when insulting her. As well, for his seeming effort to connect with Claire, he never actually looks at her.

*** The structure of the montage followed by the view from the window echoes the fact that [[spoiler:Claire escapes to her happy place after witnessing the adults' vices in action.]]

** Similarly, the first shot of Opal starts with her tightly closing her eyes while frowning. [[spoiler:She makes a similar expression during her FreakOut towards the end before retreating back into her imagination.]]
** Inside Opal's house, there always seem to be four lights above everyone and reflected in Opal's eyes. These are [[spoiler:the lights from the burger billboard Claire stares at to form her fantasy of a happy family life.]]
** When Opal sneaks to the scary house, she bolts inside after being startled by a light behind her. [[spoiler: It's likely this was the billboard lights turning on, scaring Claire because she didn't yet want to face the reality of where she ''actually'' crossed the street from.]]

* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler:When we first see Claire as "Opal", she's making the same wrinkled face she does when she realizes how awful her home life is before relaxing as soon as she sees her dream family. By the end of the short it becomes evident that Claire has escaped to this fantasy before, and likely will do again, and that the opening of the short followed another harrowing incident we weren't privy to. ]]

** [[spoiler: A brief glimpse of the father's face when the mirror spins and becomes Claire's face shows that the father's visage looks rotted and caved in, most likely from all his attempts to “fix” his appearance backfiring and leaving him severely disfigured.]]

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: In a ''very'' dark deconstruction, Claire is this for the entire family, all of whom rely on her in some way to make themselves feel better. [[spoiler:This is showcased visually near the end of the short, where there are three scenes showing objects that the members of the family use to escape turning into Claire. For the grandfather, it's his eyes, as he uses her to see and get him cigarettes. For the father, it's his mirror, as he compares himself to Claire in order to feel better about his appearance and only uses her as a reflection of himself. And for the mother, it's a pill, showing that she views Claire as someone who is there to take care of her rather than the other way around.]]

* {{Manchild}}: While talking to Opal about how he feels himself becoming more and more beautiful all the time, Claire's father describes himself feeling like a "small, growing thing," still becoming what he's meant to be. The irony, of course, that he's blind to, is that, as an adult talking to an ''actual'' child, he's grown about as much as he's likely to. [[spoiler: And of course, the even darker irony is that he's talking to his own growing child, whom he neglects.]]

* MistakenIdentity: When Opal enters the mysterious house across the street, its adult inhabitants mistake her for a family member named Claire. The grandfather is blind, the father is screened off by a wall of mirrors, and the mother is in a drugs-and-alcohol-induced haze, so none of them realize the little girl who's entered their home isn't their daughter. [[spoiler:Subverted and turned on its head with the reveal that "Opal" is a fantasy identity that was constructed as a coping mechanism, and we have been watching Claire all along.]]

** Despite her own culpability in her family's suffering, Claire's mother immediately corrects herself just shy of admitting to this, saying, "I feel terrible for all the things... I feel terrible."
** Likewise, after Claire's father casually puts down her appearance, he immediately follows it up with "Never mind, sorry, my brain," as if he just can't help himself.

* ReflectiveEyes: The main character's large eyes have a tendency to reflect things, most notably the eerie attic window.

* StepfordSmiler: Claire's father is the most overtly cheerful member of the household, but it does nothing to disguise the fact that he's a shallow, childish narcissist who is just as incapable of taking responsibility for his actions as any of the other adults in the family and has to constantly put down his daughter's appearance to feel better about his own.
* SurrealHorror: The general feel of the entire short gives off this vibe, with the uncanny visuals and disturbing characters Opal meets. [[spoiler:Of course, once everything is revealed, the short nosedives into RealismInducedHorror]].
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Various shots throughout the film show the mother's hazy, drunken vision and warped perspective; the father's visual delusions of grandeur; and the (blind) grandfather's imaginings of the women he listens to on TV as lips with thin, glittering bodies. [[spoiler:And given the ending, the entire short is likely this from Claire's perspective.]]
* UncannyValley: Just about the entire short treads the line between subtle and visceral discomfort, but special mention goes to Opal's family, good lord. Their gazing eyes, wide mouths with real teeth, juxtaposed with their live-action bodies is enough to make anyone squirm. [[spoiler:Ironic, considering how they're actually the "good" family]].

* YankTheDogsChain: Opal braves an abusive home because she wants to make a friend of whoever cries in the house across the street. At the very end she horrifyingly realizes [[spoiler:there is no friend. She has always been a member of this abusive family and she is the one crying]].