There’s been an exciting influx of female transformation horror films in recent years, such as The First Omen, Smile 2, The Substance, and Titane. All these movies depict harrowing rebirths, but there are also often transferences of power that allow these characters to penetrate worlds that would otherwise be impossible for them. Animale gets to the kernel of this idea through a revelatory body horror story that puts the “bull” in bullseye. Body horror, in particular, is such a potent subgenre, especially when it has something deeper to say and is set in a unique realm, rather than purely celebrating gore and grossness. French filmmaker Emma Benestan creates a film that’s savage, raw, and such a breath of fresh air in what’s become an increasingly crowded corner of horror.
Animale, in many respects, resembles a folktale fantasy horror film that’s as much an allegory as it is a genuine nightmare. Nejma Chokri (Oulaya Amamra) is a female professional bull runner – a rarity for the vocation – who seemingly begins to experience an animalistic metamorphosis after an incident with the bovine. Animale is a bucking tale of body horror that becomes a greater metaphor for a woman’s struggle to survive in a patriarchal world that’s filled with toxic masculinity. It’s an aggressive movie that keeps its cards close to its chest and saves most of its biggest and most audacious moments for the film’s final act. This keeps the audience guessing and left to feel their way through this uncomfortable experience.
Animale’s vicious nature makes it fit right in with the New French Extremity wave of horror from the late 2000s that consisted of powerful, female-driven ultra-gory films like Martyrs, Inside, and Frontier(s). There’s ferocious footage of bull gorings and unsuccessful exercises that remind the audience of this world’s harsh realities and that it’s inherently a barbaric and cruel sport. Animale seemingly features actual bull running, which adds so much to the experience. This is honestly scarier and more dangerous than any monster or special effect. It’s a really incredible element of realism in this heightened film. Another scene focuses on the visceral act of branding animals and the nature of being marked and owned by someone. It’s significant that Nejma, a woman, is the one who performs this act, considering what she experiences herself.
Director Benestan develops a unique voice throughout Animale, yet it often feels like a body horror exercise in gender studies that’s almost Almodovarian – heavy on the “ovarian” – in nature. Benestan creates a powerful juxtaposition between the film’s many bulls and the ranchers who seek out to tame them. The movie begins with a bunch of unimpressed bulls who stare down Nejma. In this moment, it’s hard not to connect that to patriarchy and the male gaze pushing back against Animale’s main character. It’s particularly interesting that Animale is set in a male-dominated world, but it’s Nejma’s male friend who is jilted, weak, and dumped. It helps introduce the idea that not all men are strong figures and that they’re also allowed to be frail, while Nejma is the tough, authoritative alpha.
Animale is fascinated by power structures and characters’ inability to escape them. The symbolic nature of Nejma being involved in a sport where she runs around in a sealed enclosure, desperately avoiding being trampled, isn’t lost on the audience. There’s a moment where a man literally acts as a bull to help Nejma train, only for Nejma to be the one who truly transforms into the real thing. She’s not just some inauthentic imitator, which is how she’s felt for most of her life. She’s finally empowered, albeit through a painful, horrifying process, that pushes her to reconsider what she actually wants out of life. Furthermore, Nejma perpetually pretends to be a bull in different playful contexts before it becomes a reality, as if she knows that this is her fate.
Animale is restrained, but it never holds back when it comes to Nejma’s contorting transformation scenes. These painful moments don’t reinvent the wheel, but they’re visceral and effective. The film is full of truly distinct, creative, and unnerving visuals. They become more intense each time, like a festering boil that’s ready to pop. Deaths begin to mount as Nejma’s unusual condition becomes more debilitating, as if she subconsciously strives to thin the herd’s numbers to achieve dominance. It’s also no coincidence that the deaths of bulls are treated with more reverence than the human ranchers who run with them. There’s a lot to unpack in Animale’s visuals and the messages behind them. This makes for an aggressive ride, albeit one that’s worth holding onto until the end.
Animale is a deeply moving film that strives for far more than disturbing set-pieces. It seeks to ram through societal norms and expectations like a bull in a china shop and absolutely succeeds. The film’s trajectory may be slightly obvious, but this doesn’t detract from its message’s impact and the chaos that ensues. In a year where Nightbitch is right around the corner, Animale is likely to get overlooked. However, it’s also quite possibly the year’s superior and more savage animal transformation feminine body horror film.
Animale premiered at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2024.
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