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Only the Animals Photos

View All Photos (10)

Movie Info

A woman is missing. Following a snowstorm, her car is found on the road up to a plateau where a few isolated farms struggle to survive. While the gendarmes have no leads, five people know that they are linked to this disappearance. They all have their secrets, but no one suspects that the whole story began far from this mountain swept by winter winds, on another continent where the sun beats down and where poverty does not prevent desire from dictating its laws.

Genre:

gay and lesbian, mystery and thriller
Original Language:

French (France)
Director:

Dominik Moll
Producer:

Simon Arnal, Caroline Benjo, Barbara Letellier, Carole Scotta
Writer:

Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll
Runtime:

1h 57m
Production Co:

France 3 Cinéma, Razor Film Produktion GmbH, Haut et Court

Cast & Crew

Laure Calamy

Denis Menochet

Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

Damien Bonnard

Bastien Bouillon

Nadia Tereszkiewicz

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Only the Animals

All Critics (27) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (1)

Moll's direction is assured and the excellent cast does justice to the intricately devised characters.

January 23, 2021 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

David Stratton
The Australian
Only the Animals is impressively deliberate and sober in style. Indeed, the sobriety is like a cloak for the weirdness beneath the surface.

January 21, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
An ingenious feat of narrative construction which leads us down the garden path then backtracks up it bit by bit.

November 26, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
The whole color palette is this beautiful melted snow, and I think it's an interesting film about loneliness...

June 16, 2020 | Full Review…

Simran Hans
Kermode & Mayo's Film Review
This is film-making that really tests the elasticity of its story strands, but it largely manages to keep the audience from teetering into disbelief.

May 30, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
Jolts are not severe enough to derail a smooth-running machine, but you may like to take a few Dramamine before the last act begins.

May 29, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Donald Clarke
Irish Times
Only the Animals doesn't just unravel a mystery, or several, but also recognises that sometimes enigmas and uncertainties arise simply because different things clash together and no one is quite prepared for the aftermath.

February 19, 2021 | Full Review…

Sarah Ward
Concrete Playground
It's like watching a folded-up picture being revealed in short glimpses, as first one corner then another is turned back.

February 1, 2021 | Full Review…

John McDonald
Australian Financial Review
Writer/director Dominik Moll crafts an intriguing film that ultimately leans more towards allegory rather than a conventional mystery.

January 28, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Thomas Caldwell
ABC Radio Melbourne
A near-brilliant mystery... an engrossing [film] where conventions are sidelined in favour of an intricately constructed, cliche-averse narrative...Steeped in menacing atmosphere and framed by an ever-tightening tension. One pearler of a whodunit.

January 25, 2021 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Jim Schembri
jimschembri.com
Very pretty to look at, pretty fun and pretty ridiculous. If you approach it with the right attitude, it will deliver a solid couple of hours of entertainment ... It works if you allow it in as a black comedy, a joke, or at least a shaggy-dog story.

January 19, 2021 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

CJ Johnson
Film Mafia
Moll delicately interweaves the constituent parts of his complex narrative with gripping flair.

August 17, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Tom Beasley
VultureHound