Welcome back to another review from the 29th PÖFF | Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival! There are a plethora of short films as part of the festival, so I decided it was time to explore them. From the “Shorts National Competition” comes… Marelle (2025).
Title: Marelle
Director: Kristjan Poom
Premiered at PÖFF: November 14, 2025
Runtime: 19 minutes
Markus and Kairet live a seemingly normal life in the suburbs with their young daughter Marelle. One morning, while getting Marelle into the car, Markus notices that they have new neighbors moving in next door.
Trying to be polite and neighborly, Kairet invites the new neighbors, Margus and Kaire, over to their place. Markus offers some food but quickly learns that Margus and Kaire are vegetarians. They seem like nice enough people though.
As he arrives home from work the next day, Markus notices a pig on the neighbor’s property. Kairet informs him that it is a miniature pig as well as Margus and Kaire’s new pet. Markus walks over to Margus and Margus introduces him to the Vietnamese pot-bellied miniature pig. He still can’t wrap his head around why anyone would want one as a pet.
The next day, while Marelle is in the bath, Markus here’s Kaire shouting “Marelle!”. This gets the daughter’s attention as well as Markus’. Markus walks outside only to learn that the neighbors have named their pig Marelle, exactly like his daughter.
Surely this is a simple misunderstanding that can be easily resolved… right?
I have not read the short story that this is based on. That being said, I liked the unique approach to neighborly feuds with Marelle (2025).
Arguing about landscaping or property lines? Nah. Instead, how about the neighbor names a pig after your own daughter. How can you pretend to be civil after that?
This could have looked at the psychological impact on the daughter, although the tone would have gotten pretty dark pretty quickly. Choosing to focus on the father and how he handles it allows for a more comedic approach to the story. A loving husband and father, living his happy little life in the suburbs, suddenly having to confront his neighbors over their choice of name for a pig.
We watch as Markus slowly loses a grip on his own sanity. As he runs through potential solutions, he continues to hit a dead end. The escalation of what he believes to be a solution provides some comedic day dreams on his part.
Overall, Marelle (2025) is a fun and brisk watch. If you ever see it available in your region, definitely check it out.