Animals (2019)
- Corey Bulloch
- Aug 1, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 16, 2019
★★★★
Long-time friends and party-lovers Laura and Tyler navigate life and love in Dublin, Ireland. However, the girls find themselves drifting apart when Laura becomes engaged.
Classification: 15
A poignant portrayal of love, life and survival of a female friendship, director Sophie Hyde delivers an enriching cinematic experience that defies clichés and keeps audiences captivated by the deeply human performances that bring the world of Animals to life. Reminiscent of 1987's Withnail and I, the story of Animals is about the constant struggle between responsibility and pleasure and how the expectations of society force some of us to go against our true nature and conform to a world order that we can't abide by. The carefree bohemian lifestyle of Laura and Tyler is given a ticking clock as Laura's professional and artistic failings create insecurity for herself and begin to have deviated from Tyler's influences.
Animals is a film that lives and dies from its performances and by God does this film thrive on the pure soul of the acting of Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat. A dynamic duo that has a kinship that goes so deep that only the briefest of exposition hints at their history and love they have with one another but their chemistry makes this obscurity of their history all the more fascinating. The main themes of Hyde's direction all centre around human nature, what are the driving factors that make us tick as an individual and as a society, through visual motifs and emotional moments that never descend into the melodramatic. Grainger and Shawkat make every moment of Animals is as authentic as possible and give Hyde a level of intimacy and exposure that makes the most human scenes of the film all the more powerful. The screenplay for Animals initially may seem predictable with plot revelations and story structure but it is this authenticity that makes any potential issues with the narrative fade away in the artistic glory that consumes the runtime.
A motif of a fox wanders through Animals a subtle reminded to Laura that no matter her attempts to stabilise her life that there will always be something drawing her back to relapse. Laura's relationship with Jim creates tension with Tyler as her engagement brings Laura approval from her family and her more balanced sister but what Hyde does so well is displaying how Laura is seeking approval from those that have their own issues and are not the perfection they hope to be. Laura's sister partied with Laura and Tyler but now believes herself to be above it and the storyline has Laura face temptations against her desire to begin a conformed lifestyle as her relationship with Jim faces obstacles. Tyler is not the antagonist of the film, it is never about pitting two women against each other because of a man but rather how society's expectations of women can pigeonhole them into a certain role. Tyler is the only one who seems to truly believe in Laura's artistic talent but her own self-destructive nature has cause Laura to flounder the last decade of her life but on the flip side, Laura uses Tyler's inability to mature as an excuse to not take her own future seriously. It's a strange symbiotic relationship that is put to the test by the storyline as Laura begins to assert herself against all the factors that have trapped her.
Hyde's world-building is supported by the excellent work of her cinematographer Bryan Mason as well as the production team that create a lively interpretation of the Dublin that Laura and Tyler reside in. From the jaunty artistic apartment to the monotonous suburbs, Animals really has this credible feel of looking straight into these individuals lives with this cinematic language and the natural humanity emanating from Grainger's performance. Shawkat's performance is more eccentric and serves as a comedic foil to Grainger but in those brief moments when the mask slips, the vulnerability Shawkat gives Tyler is undeniably moving. There is no weakness among the cast but Animals absolutely shines when the two leads relationship are at the forefront of the comedy and the drama.
From its intense performances to the smallest minutiae in its design, everything about Animals serves its deeply personal story. Thematically, Hyde keeps the film grounded as Laura's personal struggles never become unrealistic or tiresome but captures this lifestyle cinematically but never talks down to its audience for what side they may be on. The conflict goes much deeper than a simple choice but through societal concepts that have existed longer than Laura and Tyler, its all about how our instincts are put to the test and if we are truly capable of change. It speaks to those like Laura who wonder if there could be more than just the escape but also to the opposite who wonder if conformity was the right choice.
Director: #SophieHyde
Release Date: August 2nd 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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