The latest short film out of District 9 filmmaker Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios has landed online, and it’s both the shortest and best one so far. God runs nearly four minutes in length as opposed to the 20-minute run times of the two previous films Rakka and Firebase, but it’s a decidedly different kind of tone and direction. As opposed to a gritty, warfare-centric sci-fi tale, God is simply a story about the titular deity tending to his flock.

In this short film, God is of course played by Blomkamp staple Sharlto Copley, who broke out with District 9 and subsequently had roles in Blomkamp’s two other features Elysium and Chappie. Here, a bearded God is busy reading a book while life unfolds at his feet—namely the life of early humans. Copley’s God seems bored and reckless here, ordering his butler to do various things to the humans on his table. It’s a darkly funny, engaging little story, and Copley is unsurprisingly great in the role.

This rollout of Oats Studios shorts continues in the hopes that they can eventually be turned into feature films with support from fans. Given the shorter runtime of God it’s unclear if Blomkamp has a feature-length version of this in his head, but I’d really like to see it if so. Rakka and Firebase were fine, but they’re very much in Blomkamp’s wheelhouse. God is tonally and visually unique, and I’d like to see more of this.

Check out the full short film below and visit Oats Studios for more information.

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Image via Oats Studios
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Image via Oats Studios
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Image via Oats Studios