"When Animals Dream" is a pseudo Werewolf movie. The main character, Marie (Sonia Suhl) goes through some slow yet perturbing bodily changes and she doesn't know why. Her father wants to medicate her to prevent the inevitable but she'll have nothing of it.
This film starts of slow in a good way. It takes time to set the mood and introduce the setting and the characters. The problem is that it continued to be slow even after we were aware of the direction of the movie.
Although billed as a horror it was far more drama. They tried to make it too poetic; establishing mood with very little dialog and plenty of music, non-verbal communication and imagery. It maintained a somber mood much of the movie with only small glimpses of action.
What was clear was that Marie was the victim in this and the townsfolk were the ill-intentioned oppressors. That's how they painted it but that's not how I viewed it.
Marie is a small, docile, nubile young woman that still lives at home. She just wants to lead a normal life. Whatever happened to her, whatever she did as a result can hardly be blamed on her. Except that the world doesn't operate like that. People like safety and security even if from those without a heart to do wrong. Even though Marie was painted as and represented the underdog, she was nothing but.
