Animals

Jude (David Dastmalchian) and Bobbie (Kim Shaw) are drug addicts. They steal and pull small cons in order to get the next fix. They drift through the world on their own struggling to get by. They suffer illnesses and get robbed by avenging cops. Sometimes their cons don't go well. Jude gets hospitalized and they must face their impending fates.

This is a simple druggie couple movie without too much flash. Dastmalchian doesn't write big scenes in this and he has the feel of a drug addict. Shaw brings a little vulnerability to her role. It's a well made indie with good solid performances on a well worn story path.

Drug addiction movies that I can recall often depict the characters in a crazy state to get their fix so they can have the best trip ever. These drug films don't often show the hunger for the drug fix that Collin Schiffli's Animals explores. Our heroes, Jude and Bobbi, need to eat, sleep and get heroin. They need it to survive and they can't get it alone. So they stick together. One pulls the other down and together they crash and burn. It's pretty sad…

But Animals is charming. Jude and Bobbi are pretty fun to hang out with. That's what it feels like, hanging out with a pretty cool couple. But when they aren't on their fix, they fall into a pretty depressing state. Schiffli does a good job balancing the tone of the film. David Dastmalchian is so charming (who would have thought after playing such creepy characters in Prisoners and Dark Knight?). Kim Shaw is amazing! She kept making me want to cry. How could someone so beautiful and sweet like Bobbi fall into a situation like this? The problem points to Dastmalchian's Jude!

Dastmalchian wrote this from his true life as a former heroin addict and it makes the experience all the more rewarding. I've been hearing some people call Animals a clichéd drug movie. I think that viewpoint makes you realize how addiction is still a problem and drug films haven't really shown it like this. Again, most drug films show the fun of the fix before the characters crash and burn. This film shows the reality of it.

PS – This indie film is low budget and it doesn't look low budget at all! This is the game- changing movie that could have Hollywood running for their money. If an independent filmmaker such as Collin Schiffli (like David Robert Mitchell with It Follows) can make a low budget film that looks and feels as big as a studio movie, then there is a change on the horizon for the studio system.

A drama about the relationship of a young couple, Jude and Bobbie, who live in their car and support their drug habit in a matter-of- fact way through shoplifting and scams, until their situation turns sufficiently sour for them to re-evaluate. It sounds bleak, but there's enough humanity and compassion shown to carry it through so we don't give up on them.

There are fantastic performances from the leads, writer/producer David Dastmalchian and Kim Shaw, who convince as a couple who care deeply for each other despite the occasional flashes of selfishness that ring true as symptoms of addiction. The supporting cast are all good too, including John Heard in a small but significant role as a security guard.

Director/producer Collin Schiffli and DP Larkin Donley also do great jobs. I loved an early transition from a view out from an apartment window to the reality of the car windshield.

Be warned, there are graphic images of drug use, including injecting into the neck and groin, and a desperate moment on a filthy bathroom floor that made me wince.

Animals ; a movie with a haunting premise that lingers on in your head..Exposing us to the disturbing reality of addiction.. David had done a good job not only in front of the camera but also in the writing side..Innovate and Brave approach of the entire team to show the disturbing reality is admirable..This is one of the few drug addiction movies after "Requiem for a dream" and "Trainspotting" which is brutal and honest..Eye flickering and mouth closing visuals of gruesome reality of drug addiction and charming romantic scenes are perfectly blended and well placed.. This "INDIE" film is a worth watch and trust me you will live along with "Jude" and 'Bobbie"..Another independent film which will be an inspiration to future aspiring film makers and talents..An unforgettable piece of art : ANIMALS..

It's not often that a film comes along that accurately captures the incredibly bleak and painful world of heroin addiction. Critically acclaimed films like Trainspotting and Requiem For a Dream are quick to come to mind, but fifteen long years have past since the subject has been hit so emotionally and true to life. David Dastmalchian, the film's writer and lead actor opposite of Kim Shaw, has taken his own past experience and personal struggles with addiction and used it to create a film that captures the day to day struggle an addict faces in a fashion that is second to none.

I've been on methadone maintenance successfully for eleven years and over that time I've forgotten the horror's of my past or maybe buried would be a better term. So this film was real on a very personal level to me, it was as if I was reliving past experiences as events unfolded within the film. I've read that Dastmalchian worked with director Collin Schiffli for a number of years on this project and their devotion to the film shows in its execution. While it's not quite as artistic and visually spectacular as Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream, it held its own and it didn't romanticize the subject like certain films do. This film is just a small slice out of the life of an addict, what you see here is perfectly normal and it's a cycle of hell that just repeats itself daily. Nothing is stable, you're never ahead of tomorrow. It's nice to see that Dastmalchian has been one of the rare few who has escaped the trappings of addiction and went on to much better things in life. In this case writing his first script and taking the lead in Animals, a film that is certainly worth a look.