Review: Animals

Bobbie and Jude are in love. Their penchant for getting high has created an unbreakable bond -- they are family, and they provide for each other in any way they can. For the most part this involves con jobs to get enough cash for their next hit -- they steal to sell, and pull fake rendezvouses in which lonely men must pay up before their call girl delivers -- only for her to duck out the door once the money is in hand. Living out of their car and quite literally day to day, it's just the two of them -- no friends to speak of, and no one to turn to except themselves.



Directed by Colin Schiffli, ANIMALS is a vivid depiction of a couple of heroin addicts trying not to admit that they need to come clean. As you can already guess, the journey that they take is not a pretty one. The picture painted throughout the film is not only of the jolting reality of addiction, but also of the world. If all ANIMALS was about was addiction, it wouldn't have nearly been so interesting; but as Bobbie and Jude (played by Kim Shaw and David Dastmalchian) reach higher and higher points of desperation, we see other grimy layers of the world peeling back. Thankfully, there are also a few refreshing layers: those involving love, and genuinely helpful people, and glimpses of hope in a dismal situation.

ANIMALS is semi-autobiographical -- Dastmalchian, who plays Jude, wrote the screenplay based on experiences he had with his own addiction. And while the film leads to a poignant ending, it is not necessarily the heavy-handed PSA ending that you would expect. This may be a bit of a spoiler, so I'll keep it vague: the sense of hope is what separates ANIMALS from other stories of addiction -- not because that specific ending is common for addicts, but because it is uncommon. This shift in expectation was a relief; because while their story is about addiction, it is first and foremost about how they deal with addiction -- and with each other. This is a relational story, first and foremost, and that is what makes it so engaging.

Schiffli does a great job of drawing you into the couple's relationship, so that you feel the emotions they feel every step of the way. And the onscreen chemistry between Dstmalchian and Shaw is unquestionable. ANIMALS is now playing at the Midtown Cinema... be sure not to miss it.