Ever since Thomas Cailley‘s The Animal Kingdom opened Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section last year, the buzz has been building for the sci-fi adventure. First of all, Cailley impressed in 2014 with rom-com Love at First Sight, with this as his first feature since then. Second, the film has gone on to win multiple Cesar Awards with a lot of the attention going to actors Adéle Exarchopoulous (recently of Passages) and Romain Duris, two of the biggest stars in all of French cinema.
So what’s it about? The film is set in a world where mutations have begun turning humans into animals. Duris plays a distraught husband who, along with his son, ventures into a forest to find his wife who has been mutated and fled with other creatures.
Paul Kircher plays Duris and Exarchopoulous’ son. Tom Mercier, Billie Blain, Nathalie Richard, and Saadia Bentaieb are also in the cast.
Cailley directed the film and co-wrote the script with Pauline Munier.
Here’s the synopsis: MAGNET invites you to screen THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, a visionary new thriller that drops viewers into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures, François does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile, their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer.
The Animal Kingdom hits theaters and VOD on March 15th.
