Presented at the opening of Un Certain Regard at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, “Le Règne animal” by Thomas Cailley is a film with a fascinating concept. The result exceeds expectations.
Imagine a world in which mutations turn humans into animals. This crazy and intriguing idea is the starting point of Thomas Cailley’s second feature, Le Règne animal. In a France affected by a strange virus, François, a father accompanied by his son, Emile, goes in search of his missing wife. The teenager fears his mother since she looks less like a woman than a bear, but he does not yet know that he too is contaminated.
The director, who co-wrote the screenplay with Pauline Munier, offers an impressive film, both for its visual ambition and for its emotional strength. He draws the contours of a world where the boundaries between man and creature are gradually being erased. In this universe, rejection and discrimination are all the more present.
In the skin of the main hero, Emile, Paul Kircher – revealed in Le Lycéen by Christophe Honoré – delivers a more than convincing interpretation. He manages to create an endearing teenager who, in spite of himself, moves away from his human character. At his side, we find Romain Duris, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Tom Mercier, in the guise of Fix, an eagle man.
StudioCanal
Paul Kircher and Romain Duris in “The Animal Kingdom” by Thomas Cailley.
The Animal Kingdom is a multiple work, at the crossroads of genres, mixing drama with science fiction and fantasy with, also, a lot of humor. Innovative, the film manages to find a balance between an intimate story, centered around a father-son relationship, and a tale that is part of the heritage of the great monster films. Impossible not to think of The Island of Doctor Morceau – adapted several times to the cinema, we will only retain the 1977 version -, but also The Fly by David Cronenberg.
On screen, the special effects leave you speechless. The filmmaker, anxious to preserve the realism of his plot, turns more to practical effects than digital effects. For some creatures, the use of CGI is essential, but Le Règne animal highlights French know-how on the work of make-up, prostheses and electronic puppets.
The movie of Thomas Cailley proves, once again, that French genre cinema has a bright and grand future ahead of it. Without a doubt, one of the major films of this second part of the year 2023.
The Animal Kingdom, in theaters October 4, 2023.