Animals *** (2019, Holliday Grainger, Alia Shawkat, Fra Fee, Dermot Murphy, Amy Molloy) – Movie Review

Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat star in the 2019 comedy drama Animals as Laura and Tyler, wild hedonistic, super-close best friends, who have enjoyed a decade of carefree times in Dublin with endless happy days – and nights – of drink, drugs and casual sex. But now they are 30, times are a-changing for them, and Laura’s sister Jean (Amy Molloy) is married, pregnant, sober and critical of them.

Laura meets nice-seeming pianist Jim (Fra Fee), and the two get engaged, hugely upsetting Tyler. Laura fancies herself as a novelist, but hasn’t got beyond 10 pages in 10 years. Laura starts dithering. Then Laura meets the free-spirited poet Marty (Dermot Murphy) and starts questioning where she is headed.

After a slightly sticky start where the two main characters are not all that amusing or sympathetic, the film gains a hold, and a stronger one as it goes along. The duo became more appealing as they become more desperate and vulnerable, and the story takes odd twists and turns, so that it is not entirely predictable, maintaining interest. It is clearly a tale of lasting friendship and of a burgeoning literary career that largely excludes men, who are not shown as a very interesting bunch, so it is fairly obvious where it will end up. But, no matter, that is still good and satisfying.

The two main characters are a very strong flavour, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea, or glass of wine perhaps, since that is what they are drinking incessantly throughout the movie. Never has so much wine been drunk in one film. Drinking, or rather not drinking even becomes a plot point when Jim unexpectedly goes teetotal. (Why is it teetotal, not winetotal, or totallynowine?). The movie itself has a very strong flavour, with swearing, sex, drug taking, frank speaking and bad behaviour. Laura and Tyler are pretty much the female equivalents of Withnail and I, though their same sex bonding is much stronger and they are not homophobic. They are not good role models, yet the film obviously approves of them, and expects the audience to do so too.

Above all, the film is provocative, thoughtful and intelligent, as well as being amusing and heartfelt, and that is a very good mix. It is well acted too, and decently directed by Sophie Hyde, with some imaginative touches and slightly arty flourishes. The screenplay is by Emma Jane Unsworth, based on her novel Animals, so she must have the main credit.

It premiered in the UK as the Time Out gala movie at the Sundance Film Festival London on 31 May 2019.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Movie Review

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