‘Animale’ Review: A Bullish Sophomore Effort from French Director Emma Benestan
variety.comCatherine Bray From Jekyll and Hyde to the Wolfman, to much more recent twists on atavistic transformations, the concept of shape-shifting has always been a popular one in fiction — with storytellers turning the dial up or down on the potential social commentary therein, according to taste and preference.
In “Animale,” the closing film of this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week section, director Emma Benestan is rather more interested in the interpersonal dynamics navigated by 22-year-old female bull-runner Nejma (Oulaya Amamra) than in really savouring some promising horror implications.
She gives Dr. Jekyll center stage, as it were, rather than getting too involved with Mr. Hyde.Nejma works at a ranch in Camargue, France, where bulls are raised to compete in the arena for baying crowds of exhilarated spectators.
It is a traditionally masculine environment: From the bulls to the men who wrangle them, the emphasis is on displays of physical strength and ferocity.
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