Summary
The lead performances are terrific in Sophie Hyde’s character study, a film about the bridge between expectation and reality.
Based on the Emma Jane Unsworth novel of the same name, ANIMALS debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The source was described by journalist Caitlin Moran as “Withnail & I with girls,” referencing Bruce Robinson’s cult film of the 1980s, but audiences may also find parallels between this and Broad City. Or a certain era of their own lives.
Laura (Holliday Grainger) and Tyler (Alia Shawkat) are best friends living in Dublin, partying hard, committing to little, and consuming as much wine and as many drugs as they can get their hands on. Laura’s writing career is in arrested development, and with her sister pregnant and a new relationship beginning with concert pianist Jim (Fra Fee), she is caught in a tension between ‘growing up’ and following her friend’s freedom.
Director Sophie Hyde’s film, a follow-up to 52 Tuesdays (by way of TV’s Fucking Adelaide), is the result of a co-production agreement between Ireland and Australia. In the spirit of that cooperation, the theme of female friendship is front and centre. As toxic an influence Laura and Tyler might be on each other at times, Unsworth’s screenplay celebrates their antics without judging or condemning.
There’s a certain element of repetition to the middle act of the film, although it’s arguable that this is true of their lives as well. The central tension of the film comes from a catholicity of voices telling Laura that “sooner or later, the party has to end.” Tyler sits on her shoulder like a little devil encouraging her to not give into the “non-sound of the suburbs,” and what starts as a voice of reason soon becomes a sniping barb in Laura’s potential.
Grainger is phenomenal as Laura, in an award-worthy performance that is both raw and nuanced. Cult favourite Shawkat (Arrested Development, Duck Butter) is also excellent as the co-lead, or as Laura puts it: “You’re just as fucked as me.” The male figures feel like interlopers in a closed society by comparison.
While some of us may not have partied as hard as Laura and Tyler during our twenties and thirties, we can all recognise the tension between youth and expectations, both the internal kind and those set on us by the wider society. Unsworth and Hyde don’t take the easy way out by the end either, giving Laura more of a hope for the future than a happy ending. Now, back to work on that great novel. Right after this martini.
2018 | Australia, Ireland | DIR: Sophie Hyde | WRITER: Emma Jane Unsworth | CAST: Holliday Grainger, Alia Shawkat, Fra Fee | DISTRIBUTOR: Bonsai Films, Melbourne International Film Festival (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 1 – 18 August 2019 (MIFF), 12 September 2019 (AUS)
