When Animals Dream

Set in a remote fishing town on Denmark’s northern coast, Jonas Arnby’s debut—a muted, tense and beautifully filmed tale of transformation—begins with a seemingly routine visit to the doctor. Quiet and kind teenager Marie has discovered a small irritation on her chest. Probably nothing, decides her physician, after a thorough and only slightly unusual examination. Marie leaves and carries on. At home, she is her father’s right hand in keeping the house in order and in caring for her catatonic, wheelchair-bound mother, whose mysterious condition, we learn, eludes even Marie. After taking a job at a fish processing plant and enduring the not-so-funny pranks of several of her rowdier coworkers, Marie begins to experience sudden primal pangs of rage that are at odds with her generally benign disposition. Her father soon notices this behavioral shift—and also the worsening rash on her chest—and decides that it may be time to let Marie in on a family secret. This subdued yet surprising (and sometimes violent) Scandinavian horror film will bring you both to the edge of your seat and to tears. Leavened by occasional touches of humor, When Animals Dream intertwines a monster movie sensibility with clever allegory concerning societal anxieties over female sexuality. —Julia Nelson