The Animals [2016]
Film Review
by JannyC
Four friends return to their thieving ways, seeing no faith in looking for a job, resulting only in guilt, death and judgement.
– Sam Mason Bell
The Animals, written and directed by MyIndie featured artist, Sam Mason Bell, the head of Trash Arts, an indie film collective out of Portsmouth UK, with many indie shorts and features under their belt, is a near-zero budget 87-minute thriller, which perfectly displays why the human race is often referred to as ‘animals’.
The film opens by introducing us to George (Ross Alan Doney), who seems down on his luck and trying to find a job. Feeling hopeless, he gathers his boys the next day to share a scheme in which they can make some quick, extra cash. When Simon (Rishi Ghosh) asks if it is legal, it is here you get a hint that they are slipping back into a dark path that is the only path they know.
While I was enjoying the viewing experience, my analytical mind could not stop thinking throughout the film, about the title’s meaning and how it worked into the story. At first glance, George and his crew’s antics are animalistic in many ways, but I didn’t feel that this was the only meaning. Perhaps Sam Mason Bell was trying to convey that economic classes and the way society separates us, is an evil of sorts, with the constant reality forcing us to feel like dirty animals, scrapping at the bottom of the barrel, trying desperately to crawl out from poverty and into more comfortable living, to something better. ‘The Man’ keeps knocking us down, leaving us no other choice but to revert to our animal ways in order to get ahead and take our place among the civilized… This is what makes The Animals special.
Ross Alan Doney (George), Ben James Archer (Perry), Rishi Ghosh (Simon) and Jackson Davis (Bill) do a realistic job in portraying these tragic characters, their friendship, and brotherhood. Each brings reality and vulnerability to their character.
What also makes The Animals special is the way it is all put together, the overall flow, transition and edit of the film. The cinematography by Jackson Batchelor and editing by Batchelor and Bell, brought a gritty, artistic, indie feel.
The music by Ben Farrant completes this feel, with Farrant adding moody overtures as well as tracks by UK indie/alternative artists to the soundtrack. While the musical genres were not exactly to my taste, they did work here, adding to the feel of the piece and helping us understand the world of the film.
Ultimately, The Animals is a good, tense piece…revealing a deeper, more profound meaning if you delve further into what is on the surface.
My score: 7 out of 10.
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