Die Verschwundene

I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but I actually really liked this movie, but not for the reasons I thought I would.

While the literal English translation for the French title is "Only The Animals" but apparently, in French, a bête can also be a stupid person in addition to a beast/an animal; seul can mean alone. So, IMO, a more apt English title would be "The stupid lonely people"? Lol.

And the story is, in fact, about lonely people making stupid decisions in life and the consequences of those decisions. It is about the extent to which human beings go to deal with loneliness, primal/animalistic tendencies of love and sex; makes you question the moment at which human desire takes over morality and intelligence.

In most crime dramas, the 'what is being told' takes the cake. In this case, the 'what' isn't all that special, but 'HOW this story was told' blew my mind. There storytelling is non-linear, so those of you that enjoy this, surely check this one out. It's told from the perspective of five people (very tough to edit with 2-3 storylines, let alone 5) separately, and everything revolves around a single incident. I really liked how smooth the transitions were, the editing of these perspectives and how the story slowly unfolds, revealing what happened. There are various moments at which I went "Oooooh! This is why that happened back then!" It feels like a jigsaw puzzle falling into place with pieces you didn't know you had to look for. The acting in this movie was good too.

Would totally recommend this if you're looking for something new!