Displaying super-human willpower, Matt and Dan O’Donnell completed a full-length animated movie (practically) by themselves. The twin filmmakers (both former electrical engineers) debuted Missing Persons at the Cinequest Film Festival. Since then, their surreal 3-D computer-animated detective adventure has traveled the world – recently screening in Belgium. The pair developed their own animation software for the film, which gives a unique look and texture to the completed work. The O’Donnells expanded characters developed in their short film Officer Down, and spun them out into the full-length tale of grizzled N.Y.P.D. Detective John Funn and his mumbling sidekick Officer Snookie.

Set in an alternate reality, just slightly ahead of our time, the tale centers around the discovery and subsequent investigation of a half-drowned man floating in the reeds one-foot beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Funn and Snookie traverse the harsh city streets trying to solve the mysterious crime. Meanwhile – over on the wrong side of the tracks: Computo, a down on his luck World War II army surplus robot, ekes out a living selling drugs, but he wants to turn his life around and become a productive member of society. But his rap sheet is as long as his thin metal leg, and nobody wants to give a robot a second chance.

With wry wit and a highly developed sense of the absurd, Missing Persons is an auspicious debut from fresh new voices in the American independent animation scene.

Warning: This film contains adult subject matter and is not suitable for young children