At first glance, the premise of My Little Goat, Tomoki Misato’s (Look at Me Only) 10-minute stop-motion short, might sound like the setup for a whimsical fable: a mother goat searching for her lost children. You could even be forgiven for expecting something tender and family-friendly here, especially given the handmade charm of the medium. Instead, the film wastes no time subverting those expectations. In a chilling opening sequence, the frantic mother slices open the stomach of a wolf to retrieve her offspring – signalling that this is no bedtime story, but rather one of the darkest and most unsettling shorts in recent memory.From there, Misato weaves a narrative that is as haunting as it is allegorical. Themes of family, trauma, and identity emerge as the mother clings to the belief that she has found one of her missing children. However, no-one is safe yet, as the wolf is not gone for good; its presence continues to stalk the household, threatening to upend the fragile sense of security the characters try to hold onto.The Mother goat retrieves her children from the wolf’s stomach.What makes My Little Goat particularly compelling is the way Misato leaves deliberate holes in the storytelling. The film refuses to spell everything out, instead inviting its audience to wrestle with ambiguity and confront the uncomfortable questions it raises about cycles of abuse, survival, and what it means to protect those you love.However, it isn’t only the unsettling story that leaves a lasting impression – Misato’s warped and tactile approach to stop-motion is just as crucial in shaping the film’s impact. That shocking opening, with much of the action framed from within the wolf’s stomach, does double duty: it not only thrusts us into a nightmarish scenario but also introduces the peculiar, claustrophobic visual language that defines the short.The goat children come together in an attempt to fight off the wolf.Crafted from needle-felt, the goat children might, in another filmmaker’s hands, have been charmingly sweet creations. Here, though, they emerge half-digested and misshapen, their felt bodies softened and sullied by their ordeal. Even moments that could have been cute or comedic – such as the siblings fusing together, almost like a woollen Voltron, to form a single defensive entity – becomes instead a deeply disquieting spectacle under Misato’s eye.Lighting and design further push the film into bleak territory. Interiors are rendered in oppressive shadows, while exterior sequences bleed with a sinister red tint, ensuring there is no respite from the atmosphere of menace. Even the final scene, which introduces a rare glimpse of sunlight, resists the temptation of easy resolution. The brightness is fleeting, its warmth undercut by the lingering suggestion that the wolf, in one form or another, will always return.Since the making of My Little Goat in 2018, Misato has gone on to direct the adorably inventive Pui Pui Molcar series. Most recently, he directed all 12 episodes of the stop-motion series My Melody & Kuromi, which premiered globally on Netflix on July 24, 2025.