The Animal Kingdom Review: Fantasy Thinly Veils Reality In This Slow-Moving Metaphor For Tolerance

When François Marindaze (Romain Duris) moves his son Émile (Paul Kircher) to the South of France in The Animal Kingdom, he inadvertently sets them on a path that changes their lives forever. The movie takes place in a timeline where a genetic mutation causes humans to spontaneously transform into different types of animals, or critters, as the human-only advocates call them. The Animal Kingdom is the second feature by director Thomas Cailley, and leaves us questioning how much Cailley himself would like to shed the conventions of human society and join the animals in the forest.

The immediate takeaway from The Animal Kingdom is that it’s a traditional metaphor for tolerance. Half of the humans want to live in harmony with the animals, the others want to hunt them down, and the animals just want to be left alone. This is no horror movie, and while there are moments of gore, they’re as carefully planned and portrayed as the effects that bring the human-animal hybrids to life. Though the story treads familiar territory and doesn’t present a remarkable discovery about human nature, that doesn’t leave us any less affected by the journey.

Animal Kingdom’s Visual Effects Immerse Us In The Story

It’s a stunning blend of practical and VFX that seamlessly blend into the environment.

The Animal Kingdom knows its strength lies in how quickly the movie engulfs the viewer within the narrative. It isn’t afraid to get up close and personal with the intimate details of what the human-animal mutants look like. As Émile finds himself drawn into their world, the mystery surrounding the hybrids is replaced by awe. His mother began turning into an animal before their move and was being transferred to a government facility in the south. During the transfer, she and the other hybrids escape, and Émile starts to mutate.

The government facility where experimental treatments and surgeries take place on the hybrids looms large in the background of the story, and the fear of being sent there is much greater than the fear of changing. Interestingly, Émile doesn’t experience any true terror or dread at the thought of being an animal. He initially has a strong reaction to the transformation but almost immediately starts to embrace his new path and revel in it. With enhanced senses and appreciation of the world, he begins to shed his teenage apathy.

As he changes, Émile grows fangs, fur, and claws. It alludes to puberty and how alien the first physical steps toward adulthood can feel. The effects look amazing, as do the aspects of the other hybrids he encounters, and they are all made even more impressive by the gorgeous landscape and cinematography. Cailley chose his locations well, leaning into the lush greens and crystal clear water within the forest. He wants us to see that the unknown isn’t something to be feared but something to be revered. The genuine danger is, rather bluntly, embodied by military intervention.

The film features Adèle Exarchopoulos, best known for the LGBTQ+ romance film Blue is the Warmest Color, as Julia, a woman who’s part of the new policy force tasked with handling human-animal issues. She bonds with François as he desperately searches for his wife, knowing she has long succumbed to her new animal nature. Julia’s character is an attempt to imbue nuance into the us versus them mentality that pervades much of the film. She is a member of the enforcers but doesn’t hate the hybrids. The humans who oppose living in harmony with the animals are often cartoonishly evil.

The Character Relationships Are Underdeveloped

Though a few poignant moments stand out and break the audience’s heart.

As François, Duris has the hardest job in the film as the man left behind, unchanged and unchanging. This, set against Kircher’s straightforward descent into animal instincts, makes Duris’ performance appear all the more nuanced and elevated. François is an aging revolutionary. His ideals were once on the cutting edge, but he finds himself out of touch as the world rapidly evolves around him. His frequent quotes and references to the French poet René Char accurately represent his purpose within the story. He wants to love and support the changes in his wife and Émile but doesn’t know how.

The final moment between Émile and François is the most powerful of the movie and the strongest appeal to the audience’s emotions. However, before this, François and Émile weren’t terribly disconnected. At least no more than a typical father and son. Though they have confrontations, there’s never doubt that the pair love each other, leaving the audience wanting more. This, combined with the fact that the pacing tends to drag and many of their conversations feel repetitive, illustrates the issues with The Animal Kingdom. However, there are enough moving scenes to make it well worth watching.