There is a lot going on in this short film, so it is to its credit that it retains its focus on its strength, which is the "humanity" of its lead character. The focus is the titular Martha, who tries to put herself out there in an unwelcoming world, but finds herself retreating emotionally with each impact and sometimes even before. This occurs with plenty in the background - her world is one of creative monster designs, crammed into a world of being second class citizens to the humans. There is material linking to commentary on racism, sexism, intolerance etc but these are all the bed for the story, not forced down the throat of the viewer.
Instead we get plenty from Martha and her small journey of discovery. She is fragile and it comes over in her body language, facial expression, and voice - all very impressive considering she is a large ginger monster puppet. Leaving that aside for one moment, even without the puppetry aspect, the writing and delivery of the character is strong enough to make for an engaging film. The technology adds to this, because the puppetry is strong in the design and in the delivery. The use of CGI on the faces occasionally doesn't wholly convince - but only very occasionally; otherwise it brings so much to the character - not just the tech, but the detail and finding of the character such as what is going on in the eyes, and how well that one specific aspect of the whole connects to the other aspects.
Really impressive in its detail (puppetry and writing) but it is the dedication to its title character that makes it much more than a showreel.
