My Chemical Romance and visual artist Lauren Tsai launched the animated short film "Prelude to The End," which merges the band's Black Parade mythology with Tsai's surreal universe, The Dying World.
Produced by Tsai's studio UNREAL INC., the film follows a character named Astrid through a New England boarding school that deteriorates beneath mountains of trash. After authorities confiscate her sketchbook, Astrid descends through a garbage chute into a subterranean realm of abandoned ideas. The hand-drawn animation moves between school corridors and dreamlike imagery, exploring themes of creativity, conformity, and forgotten identity.
Tsai voices Astrid. Billie Eilish appears as her friend, Phoebe Bridgers as her sister, Hideo Kojima as The Teacher, and John C. McGinley as the Dean.
The short incorporates "The End," the opening track from My Chemical Romance's 2006 album The Black Parade, into Tsai's narrative. The Dying World premiered as a short film at the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival before expanding into a large-scale installation at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Tsai cited My Chemical Romance as a formative influence and created animated fan videos for the band's music as a child.