An outcast teenager tries to balance their new love with their darkest secret in My Animal. Heather (Bobbi Salvör Menuez) is an aspiring hockey goalie, who is cursed by the fact that their father Henry (Stephen McHattie) is a werewolf and passed this trait down to Heather and their younger brothers Cooper (Charles F. Halpenny) and Hardy (Harrison W Halpenny). It is this dark trait that makes Heather a prisoner in their own home by their alcoholic mother Patti (Heidi von Palleske), especially during the full moon. However, Heather meets figure-skater Jonny (Amandla Stenberg) and the two feel an attraction to each other. However, Heather’s dark animal within, along with Jonny’s abusive boyfriend Rick (Cory Lipman), threatens to tear this union apart.
My Animal Synopsis
My Animal is a dark drama by first-time filmmaker Jacqueline Castel, which combines werewolf horror with a coming-of-age lesbian romance. The film stars Bobbi Salvör Menuez (Under My Skin) as Heather, a teenage outcast in a snowy hockey town, who ends up falling for the gorgeous Jonny, played by Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), after seeing her arrive for figure-skating practice with her father Marcel (Scott Thompson). Heather begins hanging out with Jonny and her rebellious friends, including Otto (Joe Apollonio), going against the strict curfew enacted by their mother. However, as Heather and Jonny grow closer, it brings out the animal within Heather and the fear that comes with it.
My Thoughts on My Animal
My Animal takes the concept of lycanthropy being an allegory for female sexual awakening and tells it from a queer perspective. Heather has to deal with both homophobia and lycanophobia within her family and social circles, as well as their mother’s self-destructive alcoholic behaviour. Bobbi Salvör Menuez gives a very complex performance as Heather, adopting an increasingly gender-neutral appearance, as they come to better accept who they are, even if others react with fear or anger.
