Animals raises the old question of whether you need to like the characters in order to enjoy a film because almost everyone in Animals is either annoying or dull! Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat play Laura and Tyler, flatmates in Dublin. Laura aspires to be a writer but has only managed to produce 10 pages of her novel in a decade. They both work in a coffee shop but spend most of their time drinking and taking drugs. But when Laura falls in love with the seemingly dependable Jim (Fra Fee), will their friendship endure?
The depiction of Laura’s dilemma, in that she is too wild for Jim’s life but may be becoming too straight for her partying existence with Tyler is quite impressively presented. As she lurches between the two of them, there are no sudden epiphanies or easy solutions, which makes what us shown all the more believable. Also, Grainger is absolutely terrific.
Unfortunately, the film does have some glaring weaknesses. Tyler seems to think she is in turns deep and hilarious but is a complete waste of space. The character needed to have been much better written. The same could be said of Dermot Murphy’s lecherous poet, Marty, who becomes increasingly involved in the plot as the film drifts in the second half, when the scenes of our protagonists going out of control become pretty tiresome.
Do you have to like the characters to enjoy a film? I think not, but they need to be more compelling than this.
Rating: 5 out of 10