I lived parts of this story. My parents have a toxic marriage. My Dad is mentally ill and was abusive. He has bipolar. My childhood felt so free at times, like this kid, but as I got older I realized how trapped I was. I'm 27 now, free enough of my childhood, but the memories always linger. Watching this was painful, but sometimes you ave to acknowledge what happened.
Plot summary
Manny, Joel and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents. As Manny and Joel grow into versions of their father and Ma dreams of escape, Jonah, the youngest, embraces an imagined world all his own.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
November 24, 2018 at 12:03 AM
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
A Specific Childhood
Coming of Rage.
We the Animals is a series of very interesting ideas. Some are powerful, some are provocative, and some don't string together as well as they should. But all ideas revolve around dealing with dysfunctional parents, and the lessons that some children take from living in that environment. The three boys, as well as the parents seem authentically real. In 16mm, this film seems more like a home movie than an indie narrative feature. When the imagination runs wild, We the Animals soars (sometimes quite literally).
Could have been much better.
We The Animals is a drama about abuse, physical as well emotional abuse, about kids growing up and getting the wrong ideas about how life and relationships should be. It's also about selfishness, lack of parental control and kids growing up too fast. With those ingredients the movie had potential to be really good, but in the end it didn't match that potential. The acting wasn't bad though, that was actually a good thing about this movie. But the cinematography and camera work wasn't on top. Too much shaking camera shots, out of focus shots, and not the best work either whilst playing with the contrast between dark and light. That could all have been much better. The psychadelic drawings on the other hand were a nice touch to this movie. All in all it's not a bad movie but it just had so much more potential.