My Animal movie storyline. Tamped down by an oppressive family dynamic orbiting around her alcoholic mother, kept on the sidelines of the hockey team she yearns to join, and imprisoned in her own home each full moon, Heather is in a struggle for her life against the constrictive forces in her small northern town.
When an intriguing figure skater enters the rink, Heather’s life, sexuality, and personhood are pried open. Jonny, played by Amandla Stenberg, and Heather, played by Bobbi Salvör Menuez, have bombastic chemistry that plays out on screen with attitude, style, and ferocity. Far from the typical werewolf story, Heather’s condition is one of many reasons for her outcast status. Luckily, Jonny is happy to join her on the outskirts.
Director Jacqueline Castel brings a new depth to a classic mythos with her energetic, luscious, romantic approach to My Animal. Beneath the surface of a harrowing family drama, a steamy teen romance, and a classic monster tale, Castel bolsters this genre gem with a tactile and emotional excavation of otherness. Ultimately a triumphant testament to self-acceptance, My Animal is a shackle-breaking watch.
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 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 is scheduled to be released in select theaters on September 8, 2023.
My Animal (2023)
Directed by: Jacqueline Castel
Starring: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Amandla Stenberg, Cory Lipman, Heidi von Palleske, Charles F. Halpenny, Harrison W Halpenny, Joe Apollonio, Scott Thompson, Dean McDermott, Stephen McHattie
Screenplay by: Jae Matthews
Production Design by: Emma Doyle
Cinematography by: Bryn McCashin
Film Editing by: Marc Boucrot, Jacqueline Castel
Costume Design by: Emma Doyle
Makeup DepartmentB Joseph Hinds, Kayla Kertesz, Crystal Thomas …
Music by: Augustus Muller
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout, sexual content, nudity, some drug use and violence.
Distributed by: Photon Films (Canada), Paramount Global Content Distribution (worldwide)
Release Date: January 22, 2023 (Sundance), September 8, 2023
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