When Animals Dream | Film review - A teenage werewolf comes of age

(Image credit: Rolf konow)

A 16-year-old girl living in a drab fishing village discovers that her strange growing pains have a monstrous cause: she’s turning into a werewolf. Danish horror thriller When Animals Dream (Når dyrene drømmer) takes a brooding art-house approach for this 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. The brilliant Swedish vampire thriller Let the Right One In did a far better job at giving sexual awakening a European horror twist and was far more chilling and touching.

Certificate 15. Runtime 81 mins. Director Jonas Alexander Arnby

When Animals Dream debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on Wednesday 7 September and is available on DVD from Altitude Film Distribution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4geYD__tqCE

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.