My Animal

My Animal had me from early on. This is an atmospheric, slow-burn film that I was properly engaged by. The set-up in the film is exceptional. Unfortunately, My Animal is one of those slow burn films that burns so slow it never quite ignites. As much as I loved the set-up the film offered, My Animal let me down in the pay-off.

Protagonist Heather and her family of pale gingers have a secret. And the film and its marketing aren’t subtle with what that is. Heather and her family are werewolves. Come midnight on the full moon, Heather must be chained and locked in her room to contain the beast within. As you might imagine, this affects Heather’s ability to be a normal young woman with a social life. But this doesn’t stop Heather from approaching the new girl in town, Jonine, who goes by Jonny. Heather and Jonny develop an intense relationship that causes Heather to stay out late and puts strain on her family. Jonny too has troubles, with her father and boyfriend being controlling and unhappy with her relationship with the girl from the strange family.

One thing My Animal really succeeds at is atmosphere. The lighting, set design, editing and soundscape all do their part to make this movie feel specific in its setting and give all events a sense of mounting dread. The film’s use of heavy red lighting and pounding synth create a feeling of anxiety while also giving My Animal and 80’s setting that makes the movie feel like Stranger Things for lesbians. It’s the things this film does with its tone and editing that make it such an engaging story despite it being ultimately similar to several other werewolf stories.

Plus, the characters are great. The acting is strong in My Animal. Bobbi Salvör Menuez and Amandla Stenberg create full, engaging characters on their own and have great, intense chemistry as a pair. This is another thing that really helps My Animal. Horror sometimes offers deeply flat characters to be the centre of that horror. And that often leads to audiences caring less. The characters in My Animal feel specific and almost real, so there’s care and concern for them.

But as mentioned, all this great set-up lacks a pay-off. If you wanted to see a werewolf transformation scene, My Animal will disappoint you. It only ever shows the foreplay to that event or some point or view shots that exist to avoid shooting the transformation proper. Even ignoring the transformation, My Animal lacks a conclusion that features real horror. With such dread inducing set-up, I did want a more bombastic conclusion. Even on a story level, I’m a little let down. As a portrait of a very intense relationship between these two women, the conclusion on that angle also makes me wish for something more that I could sink my teeth into.

I was enthusiastic and engaged with My Animal until it ended. And then it ended and I thought, that’s it? This film is exceptionally set up. But when it concludes on a bit of a low note, it does affect my enjoyment of the film overall. While I think this film shows a lot of talent in many areas that WLW films often lack, I still want more. I want a third act that matches the power and potential of the first two. And My Animal lacks that.

Overall rating: 5.9/10

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