2019 Oscar Short Live Action - Ireland's Entry "Detainment" Earns My Oscar Vote

The 5 Oscar nominated films for 2019 include 2 entries from Canada, 1 from Spain and an unerringly nerving entry from Ireland "Detainment" based on true events in Ireland where two 10 year old boys  abducted and murdered a 2 year old boy in the 1990s.  Four of the nominated films are fraught with  mounting tension surrounding tragedy involving adolescent boys.  Only Spain's entry "Madre" has harrowing events wrought unwittingly upon an innocent 6 year old boy left abandoned by his father. He calls his mother who frantically tries to calm her frightened son while figuring how to protect & rescue her boy.  "Madre" has only 2 actresses in one location, the mother & grandmother of the 6 year old.  The boy is off-screen but is heard from his mother's cell.  The credible fear & frenzy of a parent desperate to save their child is convincing but the other 4 entries are more omnipotent.  Canada's "Marguerite" is also a film with only 2 women; an elderly woman & her nurse practitioner.  The film is contained within the patient's home.  It's the only film without violence, retribution or horror.  The film embraces compassion, empathy and regret for leaving love unsaid.  Emotions are tender and stark.  "Skin" USA's submission is a shockingly brutal film of racial hatred & retribution within our nation.  "Fauve" the 2nd nominated short from Canada is stunningly shot and a strong contender for the Oscar.  Two pre-teen males taunt each other in an escalating macho competition that builds to a horrifying crescendo.  But, the Oscar should go to Ireland's submission "Detainment." The film is based on court transcripts of 10 year old delinquents.  Their wayward truancy & shoplifting escalates. The boys abduct a toddler & brutally kill him.  Irish screenwriter/director Vincent Lambe has been a double winner of the Young Dir. Award at the Canne Lions and deservedly should win the Oscar with co-director Darren Mahon. The film is visually arresting and emotionally jarring.  The performances from the 2 boys in the film are astonishing.  They unleash both rage & sorrow for their unthinkable cruelty, their ephiphanies of pain they've caused and for their own demise.  The entire cast is exceptional as they maintain composure & revulsion for such abominable behaviors.  "Detainment" is disturbing, commanding & deserving of the Oscar for Best Short Live Action.