Director Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom is a fantasy of futility and fatherhood that will feel relevant to many.
Thomas Cailley exploded onto the independent film scene with his feature directorial debut Love at First Fight in 2014, winning multiple awards at Cannes and receiving the César Award for best film debut. Since then he’s largely worked as a writer, directing a music video and a few episodes of television. The Animal Kingdom is his first feature as director in nearly a decade, though not for lack of trying.
The script, which is about family’s struggle during a global pandemic, was finished just weeks before COVID-19 brought the film industry to a halt. Later, filming stalled when wildfires in Gironde, France destroyed the forest the film was being filmed in.
The Animal Kingdom takes place in a nebulous near future where a global pandemic transforms those infected into human/animal hybrids. François (Romain Duris) struggles to remain optimistic in the face of his wife Lana’s transformation. His son Émile (Paul Kircher), frightened by changes in his mother’s behavior, has already given up hope and resents being forced to cling to a woman he already considers dead. When Lana’s worsening condition requires she be relocated to a remote facility in the French countryside, François takes a job in a nearby village so the family can be together.
There’s something in the woods.
François and Émile arrive safely to their new home, but the vehicle transporting Lana and dozens of other “critters” is in a serious traffic accident and most of its occupants escape into the forest. Émile struggles to adapt to his new social setting despite a budding romance with Nina (Billie Blain), while François illegally searches for his wife with the help of a sympathetic police officer (Romain Duris). But as public attitudes towards the infected reaches a breaking point, so does the relationship between father and son.
The Animal Kingdom checks all the boxes for a satisfying independent fantasy. The world is complex and compelling, the characters are believable, and the creature effects are impressive. But what makes the film such a success is the ways in which the story feels deeply familiar.
It’s hardly a stretch to look at how the public of the film has its attitude inflamed towards the infected and draw parallels between today’s frequent attacks on immigrants, religious minorities, and the gay and trans communities. Cailley tackles the subject without preaching or proselyting and offers plenty of sympathy for both sides. But the world of The Animal Kingdom bears many of the same open wounds as our own and that makes the protagonists’ struggle all the more powerful.
Paul Kircher gives a powerful performance.
Duris headlined four films and an eight-episode miniseries in 2023, and his performance here makes it easy to see why he’s in such demand as an actor. But it’s Kircher — the son of acting legend Irène Jacob who is quickly establishing himself as a perfectly capable talent in his own right — who steals the show.
Kircher’s incredibly nuanced performance drives The Animal Kingdom‘s emotional complexity, driving the film to powerful highs and devastating lows. It’s an incredible show from a relative newcomer. And at the very least, viewers will walk away excited to see what the actor does next. I’m personally looking forward to it.
The Animal Kingdom is out now. Watch the trailer here.
Images courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
REVIEW RATING
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The Animal Kingdom - 8/10
8/10
Brogan is a Salt Lake City-based writer and film festival programmer who has watched more Scooby-Doo than the majority of the human population. You can find him on social media at @roboteatsdino or at roboteatsdinosaur.com
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