This film is well directed and has a great cast, but is let down by the plotting.
At first the film gives the impression that you're going to get a murder mystery set in the wintry Massif Central giving it a familiar Scandi-Noir atmosphere. You slowly get to see the events unravel from different viewpoints, with each subsequent telling explaining one pf the previous mysteries and adding some of its own.
But then, the film lurches off into to contrivance territory. Film is not real life, and you accept that sometimes the incredible needs to happen to move a plot forward. Not everything can be a Ken Loach drama.
But "Only The Animals" has four or five unbelievable coincidences, each of which rely on astronomical odds for them to happen. And with each one, my patience frayed a little further.
Some viewers will be happy to accept these multiple million-to-one flukes, and that's fine - I'm glad they won't have their enjoyment ruined.
For me though, it was weak storytelling and it soured my entire experience. Shame - it started off so well.
At first the film gives the impression that you're going to get a murder mystery set in the wintry Massif Central giving it a familiar Scandi-Noir atmosphere. You slowly get to see the events unravel from different viewpoints, with each subsequent telling explaining one pf the previous mysteries and adding some of its own.
But then, the film lurches off into to contrivance territory. Film is not real life, and you accept that sometimes the incredible needs to happen to move a plot forward. Not everything can be a Ken Loach drama.
But "Only The Animals" has four or five unbelievable coincidences, each of which rely on astronomical odds for them to happen. And with each one, my patience frayed a little further.
Some viewers will be happy to accept these multiple million-to-one flukes, and that's fine - I'm glad they won't have their enjoyment ruined.
For me though, it was weak storytelling and it soured my entire experience. Shame - it started off so well.