My Animal | |
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Directed by | Jacqueline Castel |
Written by | Jae Matthews |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Bryn McCashin |
Edited by |
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Music by | Augustus Muller |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 103 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
My Animal is a 2023 Canadian supernatural horror romance film directed by Jacqueline Castel in her feature directorial debut, and written by Jae Matthews. Starring Bobbi Salvör Menuez and Amandla Stenberg, the film follows a young woman who is forced by her overbearing parents to keep her lycanthropy a secret, until she begins to fall in love with a figure skater.
My Animal had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, on January 22, 2023, and was released in select theaters on September 8, 2023.
the scene opens up with a young Heather attacking her mom, after she blacks out and has a nose bleed. Fast forward to later on, Heather is at a hockey match with her father, while her young brother plays. After the game they head back home and while Heather watches TV with her younger brothers, her mother asks her to go and buy some cigarettes and alcohol. That's where she meets Jonny, who is busy stealing alcohol and Heather drops the wine bottle, giving Jonny the perfect getaway. Jonny walks into the ice skating rink where Heather works and starts a conversation with her and they decide to spend the evening, until Heather realises that her nose is bleeding.
She goes home and her dad warns her that she's being careless. Heather shackles herself in handcuffs and sleeps. Next day Heather and her brothers are practicing ice hockey in the morning. While the family is watching TV, Heather gets a call from Jonny, who tells her she should come out with them. Heather tries on her dad's jacket and her mom tells her it makes her look like a 'dyke' and that when she was bored, she was meant to be her best friend and princess but instead she became closer to her dad and misses her, she then hands Heather her watch and tells her to be home by midnight. Heather excited to be out of the house, gets into the car with Jonny and her friends and they drive off to the casino, while high on drugs.
At the casino Heather starts tripping bad while Jonny dances. Her alarm rings at 11:30 and Heather tells everyone that she has to be back home by 12 and starts to panic and throws up blood. She leaves the group behind and starts running home. The next morning her mom finds her naked on the floor with bruises on her body.
In 2019, the project was selected to participate at the Frontières production market during the Fantasia International Film Festival.[1]
Principal photography took place from February to March 2022 in Timmins, Ontario, Canada.[2]
My Animal had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, on January 22, 2023, during the Midnight section.[3][4] Prior to the premiere, the worldwide distribution, excluding Canada, was acquired by Paramount Global Content Distribution.[5] The film was released in select theaters on September 8, 2023 and on digital formats on September 15.[6]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 55 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Jacqueline Castel's feature debut is an arresting queer and lycanthropic coming of age story that longs for more, but delivers just enough panache to satisfy."[7]