Pol is a teenage boy with a self-aware English speaking teddy bear named Deerhoof. He lives with his older policeman brother who suspects he's talking to the bear again. His best friend is the girl Laia who pines for him. He is fascinated with the mysterious new boy Ikari. Albert (Martin Freeman) is their teacher in the English school. Fellow student Clara goes missing when her car is found in the lake.There is a lifelessness about this movie. All of the teens seem to be bored with the world. The bear is interesting. The self cutting is a bit disturbing. It seems to be a lot of strange things being jammed together in this movie. Oriol Pla is pretty looking boy but I'm not convinced that he's a good actor. Roser Tapias is slightly more compelling but that may be because she's a more compelling character. The boy is a mystery at the start and still a mystery in the end.

***This Review Contains Spoilers***So what's the deal with these Spanish filmmakers who only seem capable of producing these utterly depressing films? Is life in Spain so miserable, sad and depressing (especially for gay people) that every "gay film" has to end in misery and death??!! Beyond the bleak story and completely depressing ending, I also found it incredibly irresponsible and downright disgusting of Marçal Forés to seemingly glamorize "cutting" in this film. Cutting, or self-mutilation is a serious mental health issue and should not be made in any way to seem sexy or sexual. This is a bizarre film that I can't believe I wasted 90 minutes of my life on. Not only should you not waste your time or money on this film, you should send a message to Mr. Forés to go get himself some anti-depressants, lighten up, and stop making crap films. We watch movies to be entertained and to escape for a short period of time. If I want to see gloomy, dismal, joylessness Mr. Forés I'll turn on the reality of the evening news.

This evening, I had the pleasure of viewing Marçal Forés' film 'Animals'. It was a small affair, well off Austin's beaten track but what a spectacular introduction to Polari (formerly AGLIFF – Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival). Introduced as one of the fest's darker offerings and having seen a tense little trailer that leaned toward the surreal, I was all set for a wanna-be horror film with some fantastic visuals and very little substance. About the visuals, I was spot on. Shot in a small, affluent community in Northern Spain, there is a dusky beauty to the image and a dreamy tone but the surreal is treated with such matter-of-fact confidence that I was reminded of the iconic Chris Cunningham. Concerning substance, 'Animals' engages with a uncanny sense of emotional logic expressed through a young man's (Oriol Pla) emotional attachment to his childhood teddy bear – who happens to talk (in HAL-like monotone) and walk about of its own accord. If this sounds a bit like the movie 'Ted', you're way off the mark. This isn't heady art – there's still a sense of humor throughout – but the angle the filmmakers have taken to express this teenager's divergence from his budding sexuality is remarkable. The only point of reference I could give would be 'Donnie Darko', but 'Animals' isn't nearly as indulgent of Science Fiction or fantasy. Of 'Gay Cinema', let me just say that there are good films and there are bad films and the sexual orientation of the filmmakers, cast, and crew is insubstantial to me. 'Animals' is a profoundly good film and I hope if finds an audience when it's released on DVD in November.

A girl dives into a lake to join her friends only to reappear minutes later, her friends panicking, nearly the other side of the lake. A boy cycles through the forest talking to a small yellow bear who not only talks back but actively follows the boy.It's clear from the opening scenes of 'Animals' that this is not going to be a straightforward narrative. What it is, however, is an achingly beautiful and surreal film which tries to capture some of the beauty, pain and uncertainty of adolescence. The film follows Pol, a confused and insular teenager, and his relationship with those around him in particular his small yellow teddy-bear, and imaginary friend, Deerhoof. Pol is a complex character, unsure of what he wants and unable to put his childhood behind him and move into the 'adult' world around him despite the insistence of his brother and his few human friends. His world is further complicated by the arrival at school of new-boy Ikari who Pol is immediately drawn to but who represents the dangers of the new grown-up world.Oriol Pla is wonderful as Pol, injecting the character with the right amount of moody reflectiveness and naiveté without making the character irritating.Comparisons with 'Donnie Darko' will abound and these are not unjustified, several of the films motifs and set-pieces seem to be lifted almost directly from Richard Kelly's film; indeed, even the overall tone and atmosphere seem to be paying homage to Darko. However the film does not suffer as a result of these, instead they serve to make the world of the film richer and even more beautiful.One of the more interesting elements of the film is its exploration of the consequences of adults' decisions on adolescents' lives, in particular the information adults choose to share and withhold from the teenagers present. Much like the aforementioned 'Donnie Darko', this is all done without a huge number of adult characters being presented in the film. Indeed the one adult who is present in their lives, Martin Freeman playing Pol's English teacher, is shown as well-meaning but hampered by the other adults and the rules of the society around him.This is a film which invites discussion and analysis; there will inevitably be some who will find the lack of answers frustrating and will find some of the more quirky elements of the film irksome. For me, however, these plot elements added to the film's beauty rather than subtracting from it, and felt far less contrived than several other recent 'quirky' releases like 'Stoker'.The film unfolds at a leisurely pace until the final moments where the main storyline, as well as the sub-plots which have been bubbling away, reach a sudden and explosive climax.This is a beautiful film which will stay with you for days and invites a second viewing.