Dark without remit. During most of the film's two hours, dramatic tension in "End of Animal" swings between uncomprehending confusion ("Why is this happening?") and betrayal and victimization ("Why are you doing this to me?") as a very pregnant young woman attempts to reach a highway rest area where she can get word to her mother following a mysterious failure of all electrical devices (well, except for a flashlight or two). Defenseless against the other desperate people she encounters, she lacks coping skills beyond sheer persistence, which nevertheless takes her unexpectedly far in her quest to get home. The erosion of all human help and comfort reminds me of a Japanese film I dimly recall from years ago: "Woman in the Dunes".
Pacing is slow but consistent, and events maintained my interest in the main character and my wish for her to succeed. Supporting characters are economically but believably drawn. The only false note: a nonhuman, recurrent threat is too reminiscent of the American TV series "Lost", which had to be familiar to the makers of this 2010 film.
Pacing is slow but consistent, and events maintained my interest in the main character and my wish for her to succeed. Supporting characters are economically but believably drawn. The only false note: a nonhuman, recurrent threat is too reminiscent of the American TV series "Lost", which had to be familiar to the makers of this 2010 film.