''When Animals Dream'' (originally titled as ''Når dyrene drømmer'') is a 2014 Danish

horror drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

film, and the feature film

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

Jonas Alexander Arnby Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of t ...

. The film had its world premiere on 19 May 2014 at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and stars Sonia Suhl as a teenager that discovers that she is transforming into a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

Plot

Marie (Sonia Suhl) is a shy sixteen-year-old growing up in a remote fishing village in Denmark where she lives with her father Thor (

Lars Mikkelsen Lars Dittmann Mikkelsen (born 6 May 1964) is a Danish actor. He has played Copenhagen mayoral election candidate Troels Hartmann in the drama series ''The Killing (Danish TV series), The Killing'', List of Sherlock characters#Charles Augustus Ma ...

) and mother (

Sonja Richter Sonja Richter (born 4 January 1974) is a Danish actress. She is best known for her performance in the 2002 film ''Open Hearts'' by Susanne Bier, for which she was nominated for both the Bodil Award and the Robert Award. In a career which has so ...

), who is catatonic and confined to a wheelchair. She's bothered by a strange rash that develops on her chest, only to become more unnerved when she begins to sprout hair. During this time Marie begins working at a fish processing plant where her coworkers bully her under the false premise that it is

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

and not intended to be malicious. As Marie's body undergoes more changes, she begins to realize that her family has been hiding strange secrets and that her mother's current condition may relate to what Marie is currently going through.

Cast

Sonia Suhl Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

as Marie *

as Thor *

Jakob Oftebro Jakob Hoff Oftebro (born 12 January 1986) is a Norwegian actor. He has appeared in more than twenty films since 2004 including Hamilton and ''Kon-Tiki'', which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academ ...

as Daniel *

as Mother * Mads Riisom as Felix * Benjamin Boe Rasmussen as Ib * Esben Dalgaard as Bjarne

Reception

Critical reception for ''When Animals Dream'' has been generally positive. It has a score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and of 54% on Metacritic. ''

Shock Till You Drop Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerg ...

'' compared the film favorably with the similarly themed films '' Let the Right One In'' and ''

Ginger Snaps A gingersnap, ginger snap, ginger nut, or ginger biscuit is a biscuit flavored with ginger. Ginger snaps are flavored with powdered ginger and a variety of other spices, most commonly cinnamon, molasses and clove. There are many recipes. The bri ...

'' and commented that it was "a movie that lurks quietly in the shadows, stalking you until its ready to pounce and show you what big, sharp teeth it has". ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' and ''

Twitch Film Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

'' also praised the movie, and ''Twitch Film'' wrote that it was "a tremendous feature debut, haunting and elegiac, while not shying away from violence and sex. There is certainly no subtlety to the film; but then again, werewolves aren't meant to be subtle."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2818178 2014 films 2010s horror drama films Danish horror drama films 2010s Danish-language films 2014 directorial debut films 2014 drama films