Holliday Grainger, Alia Shawkat, Fra Fee
Australian director Sophie Hyde, known for her award-winning debut 52 Tuesdays, returns with this vibrant, messy study of female friendship, based on Emma Jane Unsworth’s 2014 novel of the same name.
Laura (Holliday Grainger), an aspiring, self-doubting writer and her anarchic best friend Tyler (Alia Shawkat), an American estranged from her family, share a flat in Dublin. They live to party, with drink, drugs and general debauchery infusing their days and their careers and personal lives otherwise largely on hold. But then Laura falls in love, and her romance highlights flaws in their friendship, forcing them to consider their shared and separate futures.
The premise might sound familiar, but Animals feels consistently unconventional, unruly and rich; it capably conjures an entire world, and doesn’t care how you judge its heroines. Benefiting from excellent performances by and chemistry between Grainger and Shawkat, a sharp, insightful and witty script, and Hyde’s distinctive direction, it received glowing reviews following its Sundance premiere and looks set to gain continued critical approval on its release.