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When Animals Dream

Play trailer 2:08 Poster for When Animals Dream R Released Aug 28, 2015 1h 25m Horror Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 44% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Teenage Marie lives on a small island with her father and catatonic mother. Virtually friendless and sullen, Marie begins to experience frightening changes in her body that mark her as a dangerous threat.
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When Animals Dream

When Animals Dream

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Critics Consensus

This Danish feast may leave you wanting more, but When Animals Dream remains a solid attempt to redefine female adolescence through a lycanthropic lens.

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Critics Reviews

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Blue Lenses When Animals Dream has all the markings of a first film, but there's enough going on to make it a memorable and important entry in the intriguing, complex werewolf subgenre. Aug 25, 2018 Full Review A.O. Scott New York Times Mr. Arnby knows all the genre codes, and how to subvert them when necessary. Aug 27, 2015 Full Review Katie Rife AV Club When Animals Dream congeals its influences into something intimate, intelligent, and occasionally quite haunting. Rated: B Aug 27, 2015 Full Review Jason Best Movie Talk Danish horror thriller When Animals Dream (Nr dyrene drmmer) takes a brooding art-house approach for [its] dark coming-of-age story, but given that the mood here is more dull than eerie, a touch of schlocky exploitation might not have gone amiss. Rated: 2/5 Sep 10, 2016 Full Review Amanda Waltz The Film Stage A Danish export with a surprisingly tender take on the werewolf myth. Rated: B Feb 21, 2016 Full Review Nikola Grozdanovic The Playlist Its narrative vacuum is big enough to make you mad at this melancholy werewolf drama for not being, at the very least, good. Rated: C- Sep 5, 2015 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Taylor L I don't care how threatening you make the atmosphere, mopeds just aren't a scary vehicle to be chased by. When Animals Dream takes the 'werewolf = female coming-of-age' mechanic of Ginger Snaps and slows it way down, presenting it as a journey of self-discovery and familial right in a small Danish fishing village. Protagonist Marie (Sonia Suhle) suffers in near-isolation without much in the way of emotional connectivity as she suffers abuses at the hands of her coworkers and neighbors, who all seem to be strangely aware and moderately accepting of the fact that the family that lives down the street can get pretty furry and violent, albeit only when threatened. Somber in tone and light on action for the most part, many have already pointed out that a lot in this debut from director Jonas Alexander Arnby can be traced back to Let the Right One In, with the exception being that When Animals Dream has a much more one-dimensional conflict and straightforward characters. The film is slow without being subtle, which is a rather unusual combination that I doubt will bring in too many new fans; even a wholesale slaughter seems light on the tension. There are pieces that seem designed to flesh out Marie's character (including relationships with both parents and a potential love interest), but none are deep enough to give more than a surface-level depiction of her personality and fears. Ambitious but not all there. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/13/22 Full Review Audience Member A decent flick thats part love story, part revenge tale and part monster movie. The film was interesting. It started off being a slow burn before picking up for Act 3. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Like so many indies you can stream, it's got more good/blah stuff than great stuff. But I've definitely seen worse. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Boring, uneven, and too serious for its own good, When Animals Dream is a tasteless film that shows good direction and acting, but is missing an interesting story and characters to boot. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member original film, abit scattered in the way that it spends to much time on things we dont care about vs things we would like to see more about. overall a good watch and a different take on a werewolf indie. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Moody and atmospheric, although the horror part of things never gets going, so it's a very much a subdued effort. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
When Animals Dream

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Teenage Marie lives on a small island with her father and catatonic mother. Virtually friendless and sullen, Marie begins to experience frightening changes in her body that mark her as a dangerous threat.
Director
Jonas Alexander Arnby
Producer
Ditte Milsted, Caroline Schlüter
Screenwriter
Rasmus Birch
Distributor
Radius TWC
Production Co
AlphaVille Pictures Copenhagen, Danmarks Radio, Det Danske Filminstitut
Rating
R (Some Violence|Sexuality/Nudity|Drug Use)
Genre
Horror, Drama
Original Language
Danish
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 28, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 24, 2016
Runtime
1h 25m
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