The opening night shorts program at this year's Sundance Film Festival was full of some pretty strange material, including David O'Reilly's animated film 'The External World,' which wound up taking home an honorary mention from the shorts jury once the festival wrapped up.

It's probably one of the oddest pieces of animation you'll watch this week year, and, as with any piece of art that takes risks with its storytelling and presentation, the short itself has elicited mixed reactions. Some feel it's brilliant in every conceivable way -- a trippy yet creative look at how technology is slowly consuming us. Others, however, think it hits you a little too hard with its message and that its 17-minute runtime could've been chopped some.

We fell somewhere between the two after watching it at Sundance. It's definitely a unique piece of entertainment, that's for sure, featuring some hilariously dark moments and characters that will leave you wanting to just turn off the computer and take a nice walk in the park.

Watch 'The External World' after the jump and let us know what you think.

Buy an HD copy of this film right here.


Those of you attending SXSW this year should also keep an eye out for 'The Strange Ones,' which was another great short that premiered alongside 'The External World' at Sundance. Watch its trailer below.