Actualités

The Greek hotel where Sofia Exarchou’s jittery, melancholic “Animal” takes place doesn’t seem to be anyone’s first-choice holiday destination. The beach is gritty rather than golden. The skies are low and gray. The guests are older couples and noisy families — pragmatic souls seeking a couple of weeks of undemanding pleasure on a budget that doesn’t stretch to luxury. Setting foot inside the Hotel Mirage, a “White Lotus” guest would turn on her heel so abruptly she’d be in danger of breaking a Manolo.

But so much for the guests, who come and go. The unromanced gaze of Monika Lenczewska’s mobile, handheld camera is firmly fixed on the seasonal entertainment staff. Shacking up in tatty digs on the premises, the men and women who provide daily diversions for the all-inclusive package tourists have the self-organizing camaraderie of a circus troupe. They practise their dance routines...

For those fortunate enough to grab their own little piece of paradise during summer vacation, the memories can seem unforgettable. But there’s another side to those sunny holidays that are rarely posted on Instagram, involving the many hotel workers who labor in the background to make everything appear perfect, at least on the surface.

Greek writer-director Sofia Exarchou’s intriguing second feature, Animal, focuses on a specific group of such workers: the animateurs whose job is to entertain guests both day and night, leading seniors in a game of bingo or a group singalong, or performing Showgirls-style dance numbers marked by an excessive level of kitsch.

Paul Verhoeven’s glitter-and-guts depiction of Las Vegas definitely comes to mind in this story of a dancer, Kalia (the excellent Dimitra Vlagopoulou), who choreographs numbers and trains new recruits at a Greek resort filled with foreign tourists. She constantly reminds her team to smile at the guests,...