Mike Sobi | Pancakes / 2023 [animation]

strawberry fields are forever

by Douglas Messerli

 

Mike Sobi (screenwriter, artist, and director) Pancakes / 2023 [6 minutes] [animation]

 

Having just broken up with his ex-boyfriend Eddie sits at the gay bar of Cupid’s B❤️w where evidently everyone falls in love, some meeting up falling immediately into a kissing and sex meetup on the bar floor.

     But Eddie (Kevin Anthony) is sad, and just drinks. That is until Asher (Ethan J. Polensky) joins him.

 

    The next morning Eddie awakens understandably a more than a little hung over. He gets a call from a friend who insists he bringing himself and two others over for lunch, refusing to hear any other answer that Eddies assent. Obviously, this is a friend who insists on cheering Eddie up.

     Eddie gets up, looks at himself in the mirror, and realizes that he is no condition to have guests.

    But then, on top of it, he hears a voice in the next room, the guest from the night before, evidently, who’s busy rolling a joint. The new friend, Asher, has evidently taken the drunken Eddie home, listened to his life story, and slept on the living room couch, Eddie clearly haven’t been ten sheets to the wind.

    He explains to the unknown stoner under his blanket that he’s “supposed to meet someone”; “Right, someone,” responds Asher rushing off to dress and leave, as all overnight guests are expected to do, even if they never even shared a bed.

   When he hears about how Asher spent the night in bed, he admits that it’s really sweet of him, the visitor suggesting, “Well, I try to keep my one-night stands standing.”

      His telephonic friend is now suggesting he’s bringing 5-6 people for lunch.

   His one-night stand is halfway out the door, adding, “I don’t know if pancakes are good for hangovers, but it’s all I know how to make.”

      Before Eddie might even protest, the door slams shut. In the refrigerator he finds a stack of rosy red strawberry pancakes, bringing the film back into the color of the beginning scenes.

      Eddie rushes out, dressed only in his bathrobe, to tell his overnight guest to “Wait!” clearly intrigued and thankful for his gift instead of the calls he receiving which demand Eddie pay for the lunch. They get to talking, Eddie admitting he’s not exactly over his ex, which Asher assures him he has told him last night. In fact, declares

Asher, he’s still having a difficult time about his ex. Eddie invites him to stay just a little longer, and finally Asher introducing himself, as does Eddie.

     But when he reaches to open the door, giving one another a kiss, both promising “pancakes first,” and Eddie attempts to turn the door handle, Asher almost resignedly describes the situation: “We’re locked out, aren’t we?”

      Let’s hope there’s a nearby locksmith who can open them up to the world of strawberry pancakes.

      This charming animation from 2023 is definitely worth viewing.

 

Los Angeles, March 23, 2026

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (March 2026).