North American Premiere
In a world where mysterious mutations are gradually evolving humans into animal hybrids in an unpredictable and frightening way, a father tries to protect his 16 year old son who is starting to acquire beastly characteristics. Fantastical and fascinating, The Animal Kingdom insightfully explores otherness, pandemic, and human survival within the context of family bonds.
This French sci-fi drama is inventive and innovative, and has as its heart a beating human core. Paul Kircher is remarkable as the young Émile, while Romain Duris packs a sensitive punch as the sympathetic father François. The film is a thrilling combination of body horror, dystopian suspense, and family drama. Directed by Thomas Cailley (Love at First Sight), and winner of the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes.
Un Certain Regard Award, Cannes 2023
The director is willing to risk the ridiculous en route to the emotional truths he seeks. Stumble even for a moment, and the whole movie could feel silly, which is what makes the fact that it works all the more remarkable.
Peter Debruge, Variety
Series Media Partner
Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Tom Mercier, Billie Blain
France
2023
Altered States
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Producer
Pierre Guyard
Screenwriter
Thomas Cailley, Pauline Munier
Cinematography
David Cailley
Editor
Lilian Corbeille
Original Music
Andrea Laszlo De Simone
Director
Thomas Cailley
After studying at La Femis in the screenplay department, Thomas Cailley directed Paris Shanghai (2011), a short film that won awards at numerous festivals. His first feature film, Love at First Fight, was a public success. Presented and awarded at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2014, it received three Césars the following year, including Best First Film. Directed for Arte, his first series AD VITAM (6×52) was selected at the Toronto International Film Festival and elected best French series of the year at Series Mania in 2018. The Animal Kingdom, presented in the Official Selection at the opening night of Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival (2023) is his second feature film as a director.
Filmography: Animal Kingdom (2023); Love at first Fight (2014); Paris Shanghai (2011)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Porcelain War
In Canada we cannot truly comprehend a scenario in which our country is invaded and civilians compelled to take up arms. Yet for Ukrainians, this is the reality. In Porcelain War, three artists elect to stay and fight -- with cameras, yes, and with guns.
Inay (Mama)
Bold and deeply personal, Inay investigates the emotional and psychological repercussions of Canada's Live-In Caregiver Program, which attracted Filipino women migrant workers who left their children to care for strangers out of economic necessity.
La Cocina
First day at the Grill for undocumented Mexican Estella. The work is unremitting, the melting pot is boiling, and Julia (Rooney Mara) is due to have an abortion -- to the fury of her lover, one of the chefs...
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) tells the story of South African photographer Ernest Cole, who captured some of the most vivid and compelling images of the apartheid regime in the 1960s but died in near obscurity in the USA just as Mandela was released.
Obsessed with Light
Nearly a century after her death Loie Fuller is still inspiring artists like Taylor Swift, Shakira, Bill T Jones and William Kentridge. She became world famous as an innovative dancer, combining fabric, lighting effects and movement in revolutionary ways.
