The phrase ‘human beings are just animals’ takes on a whole new meaning in Fantasy Thriller The Animal Kingdom (Le Règne animal) emerging in theaters and on VOD March 15, 2024 through Magnet Releasing/ Magnolia Pictures. Directed by French Director Thomas Cailley, who also co-wrote the film alongside Pauline Munier, the film is set in a world where a mysterious disease has led to people mutating into creatures which are part human and part animal. Worse still, there appears to be no rhyme or reason to the malady, leaving anyone and everyone susceptible.
One family that has been coping with the disease is Francois (Romain Duris: All the Money in the World 2017, The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan 2023) and his sixteen year old son Emile (Paul Kircher: How to Make Out 2020, Winter Boy 2022). Francois’s wife and Paul’s mother Lana (Florence Deretz: Clemence 2003) succumbed to the disease and now lives under supervision as a kind of bird hybrid. One day during a transportation, Lana and several other ‘creatures’ escape into the nearby forest leaving Paul and his dad on a mission to track her down before she is hurt or hurts someone else. If that was not enough to contend with, Paul soon begins to experience worrying symptoms of his own.
Whilst The Animal Kingdom may sound like a Body Horror, and indeed there are elements of Body Horror, actually the film is often more akin to a coming of age Drama. The film focuses largely on Emile as he tries to come to terms with his mother’s absence alongside moving to a new school, his relationship with his father and later his own body issues. The animal disease is always there in the background, but for the most part life has gone on. There are certainly comparisons that can be made with COVID-19 and the way that such a terrifying disease can become almost commonplace – soon deemed an unfortunate, yet ordinary part of life that we all must deal with.
As well as comparisons with COVID-19, The Animal Kingdom feels highly allegorical and metaphorical throughout. This is a thought-provoking film that looks at those who are ‘different’ and how society treats them. The creatures are referred to by many with slurs and often treated with violence and fear. The creatures may be the ones who are deemed only part human, but The Animal Kingdom asks the audience to consider who the real ‘beasts’ are.
Overall, The Animal Kingdom is elevated by its performances and in particular a strong central performance from Kircher as Emile. Visually the film is also extremely strong and at every turn it pulls the audience into a world which is both incredibly recognizable and fantastical. And while The Animal Kingdom is probably strongest in its first act, it is still a film well worth seeking out. That is why Cryptic Rock gives it 4 out of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment