Rating: 8 of 10
Coming of age is itself a nightmare most everyone hopes to survive unscathed. Toss in supernatural DNA and things can go downhill real fast.
Synopsis: “Marie is a beautiful and lonely 16-year-old who lives in an isolated village on a small island of the west coast of Denmark. Marie’s mother is seriously ill, suffering from an unknown disease – on medication, mentally absent and tied to a wheelchair. Marie’s father, Thor, runs the small grocery store and tries to make life as normal as possible for the small family. On the surface, everything seems fine – and yet, Marie can’t help feeling that Thor is hiding something about her mother’s illness.” (source)
My thoughts: It’s not easy being a teenager in a small town. Feeling like you’re stuck in limbo, between being a kid and being an adult. There’s an inherent otherness to that stage of life. Twist up all those emotions and thoughts with a suspicion that you’re even more of an outsider because of a secret your father denies but your gut insists on, and you have the recipe for a thrilling coming of age horror movie. I absolutely loved Marie’s transformation; no, not the physical one (although it’s frighteningly awesome). I mean the one where she embraces her true self.
Highly recommended if you enjoyed movies like TEETH, CARRIE, or GINGER SNAPS.
Check out WHEN ANIMALS DREAM in Danish Film Catalogue | on IMDb | Watch the trailer
(Watched on Netflix 1/16/2016)
2 Replies to “When Animals Dream (2014)”