Magical realism meets pre- and post-apocalyptic sagas in The animal kingdom (now streaming on Hulu), a strange, genre-breaking French film about the Great Manimal Problem. Those are my words, not the film’s: Director and co-writer Thomas Cailley leaves the hows and whys vague and focuses on humanity’s (perhaps futile) attempt to go about its normal life in the face of an epidemic in which humans are mutating into bird-people, lizards, manatee-men, and other strange hybrid creatures. The film is an odd mix of tones and styles, and feels a bit like an arthouse film. X MenThis is complicated and ambitious material, and I’m not sure it entirely “works,” but does that mean it’s not worth watching? Let’s find out.
THE ANIMAL KINGDOMSTREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: Francois (Romain Duris) and his teenage son Emile (Paul Kircher) find themselves in a traffic jam caused not by an accident or roadworks, but by a birdman. Seriously: this guy has claws for fingers and wings for arms and bandages on his head that make him look like his beak has been removed. We get a pretty good look at the guy and it’s hard to tell if he’s tortured by the situation or in the midst of the painful process of breaking free from humanity’s hell. Regardless, traffic eventually moves so Francois and Emile can visit his wife/mother Lana at a facility where humans/beasts who haven’t escaped are cared for, studied, or medically treated or, perhaps, imprisoned to the point where they might soon feel the need to rebel and break free. Again, it’s hard to tell, but we get a good look at Lana’s ape-like eyes, ringed with fur, and sense that there’s an intense identity struggle going on somewhere. We also get a good look at Emile’s face, the scar on his temple, as he stands next to a wall marked by deep claw marks, and we get the idea: he’s been through a lot.
But Emile and Francois seem to be doing pretty well, it seems. They move on, moving into a temporary camping cabin in a rural location after Lana is transported to a new facility for the creatures — or, if you’re participating in human society’s tendency to put derogatory labels on things they don’t like or understand, “critters.” Emile attends a new school, where a Draco Malfoy-esque pervert regards animals as freaks, and other kids wonder if humanity shouldn’t try to coexist with the creature. Emile befriends Nina (Billie Blain), who we learn is a vegetarian, suggesting she has a deep respect for animals — which is a good thing, since her romantic interest is starting to act a little strange in gym class — you know, being able to single-handedly drag four kids to the ground in a tug-of-war.
Like father, like son, then? NO SPOILERS, man, but I will say that Emile’s hair growth is more than a little excessive for the usual limits of puberty, and he’s also experiencing some problematic issues with his teeth and nails. Is this funny? I can’t say exactly, but I think so. Meanwhile, we’re treated to some father-son bonding sequences after a transport truck crashes and the manimals inside escape into the woods, including Lana. Francois is very weird about it, deciding that hanging clothes that smell like him and Emile, or driving through the woods at night shouting Lana’s name and blasting her favorite song, will draw her back. I don’t know what his expectations are if he returns, but it does make you think of problematic things like the relationship between humans and their pets and/or, ulp, bestiality. Francois befriends a local cop, Julia (Adele Exarchopoulos), who is either sympathetic to his cause or wants to kiss his face. I’m not sure which, but one thing is certain: Exarchopoulos deserves a better-written role. And things come to a head when military trucks arrive to do whatever it is they do to the escaped creatures (the animals surely won’t be greeted with hugs and snacks) and Emile tries to keep his transformation a secret. Here I spin the Fisher Price See ‘n’ Say at the fox, which says: CHAOS REIGNS.
What movies will it remind you of? MAGICAL REALISM also reigns here, so think Savage South beasts crossed with a Planet of the Apes which is located between Increase of and Dawn ofwith an inevitable nod to Birdmana bit of horror and Shyamalan-style sleight of hand, something strange The American Werewolf in London-inspired comedy and bits of disgusting body stains that say “please cut off the oozing wound before I lick it,” a la David Cronenberg.
Performance worth watching: Some of the supporting cast either slip or squawk completely as they lose their humanity, which is a bit, you know, goofy. From Kircher Teen WolfThe isms are not so much; he pulls back on the reins a bit, finding subtle comedy at the margins of the human and the bestial as he undergoes his transformation.
Memorable dialogue: Emile obsesses over details when perhaps he should be concerned with the bigger picture: “The worst of all is the fur. The wolf’s fur is bristly and itchy.”
Sex and skin: None, he said, sighing in disappointment, since the film doesn’t really make us feel uncomfortable. going there.
Our opinion: The animal kingdom The film has a darker tone, sitting somewhere between horror, comedy, sci-fi, and thriller, with a vagueness that’s sometimes tantalizing and sometimes frustrating. Cailley finds some thematic traction in Francois and Emile’s father-son dynamic as they try to deal with a life in which their mother/wife isn’t dead but is far from the same as before, and that’s the film’s strongest component: they’re random and reckless in their method of finding Lana, but they’re also hopeful, as if they fully recognize how surreal and ridiculous the situation is, and are having fun in the face of significant personal and social change. Part of the drama hinges on Francois learning about Emile’s condition and how he’ll react to it; Part of it revolves around Emile’s self-discovery and his restless psychology (what can and can’t he control about his behavior?), as well as his budding friendship with the bird man, who calls himself Fix and is played with strange enthusiasm by Tom Mercier.
You sense Cailley’s attempts to defy expectations in terms of tone, feeling and plot, and some of the seams are visible: you’ll admire his vision and aspirations at the same time as you notice his calculations. And there are plenty of notable directorial touches here: thoughtful cinematography, canny camera moves, an atmosphere of unease and a fantastical magical-realist visual modus operandi that carefully balances practical effects with CGI. Where the film fails is in finding a central metaphor, oscillating between coming-of-age tropes and undercooked inferences about racial prejudice, human nature and the politics of extreme change. I never felt fully immersed in the strange, not-quite-our-world reality that Cailley creates, but I was nonetheless fascinated by what went on within it.
Our calling: PASS IT ON. Magical realism can be profound or profoundly absurd, and The animal kingdomFor better or worse, it’s a turning point. It falls short of a fully formed concept (it feels like an extended pilot for a multi-arc TV series), but it sparks enough intrigue to warrant a recommendation.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.