Day #15
Når Dyrene Drømmer
[When Animals Dream]
(2014)
In a small Danish fishing town a young woman learns she has the same strange disease as her mother. But when she refuses to hide its symptoms the town quickly turns against her.
Fright Factor:
2 / 5 Vespa Gangs
Gore Factor:
2 / 5 Fish Gutting Jobs
Should you watch it?
Yes.
Imagine, if you will, a Danish cross between Låt den rätte komma in [ Let the Right One In ] (2008) and Ginger Snaps (2000). I mean, if that doesn’t make you want to see this movie then I don’t know what will.
It’s extremely well shot, features some great actors, and has an ethically grey plot that leaves it up to you to decide who was the real monster.
To be fair the ending is a bit lackluster and the motivations of the love interest aren’t really explained at all. The result isn’t a complete miss, but it struck me as a bit lazy and failed to release the potential energy of the film’s tension as well as it could have. But other than that I don’t really have anything much to criticize about this movie.
While there is a lil bit of gore (unless you happen to be a fish in which case there is a LOT of gore) it really isn’t a film that’s trying to scare you. It’s a film that uses the monster genre as a metaphor. Similar to Låt den rätte komma in, the most frightening parts for me weren’t the monsters, but the bullies. I don’t know if it’s a cultural thing or just a lack of personal experience thing, but bullies in foreign movies are always doing shit that’s just full on crazy-town. Just no-question-about-it illegal kind of stuff.
In spite of the slightly lackluster ending, the rest of the film is an eerie and atmospheric piece that will get under your skin and make you ask some big questions about yourself and the world at large.
“If you leave the house like that,
I can’t help you anymore.”
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