Anonymous Animals (2020) Poster

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5/10
A powerful message, but messy
MilosH187 November 2021
I have mixed feelings about this movie, a lot of disjointed moments that were quite annoying at the start, ruining the momentum in several scenes. However, towards the end, this style was suitable and efficient. The cinematography and colour grading were solid, making it enduring to watch. In terms of having no dialogue in the film, it is understandable, but I think it could have been a more effective result if there was some form of it. An interesting concept, and a powerful message, but I believe the structure was all over the place, damaging the movie overall.
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4/10
A Real Sleeper...at best
Jonny_Gr8ful24 August 2022
Seriously, great cinematography and mind blistering shock value. For the most part... It's simply a played out narrative and it's an exhaustive piece of dribble. The last 10 minutes of the spectacle was grand, but it simply does not make up for the lack of depth and weight. The movie was an empty shell with no true direction. It starts and ends nowhere and of nothing.
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5/10
Needs character
thegrimmshaw19 November 2021
I know they were not going for subtlety here, but at the very least they could have tried to give me a character to connect to.

Instead the movie just seems to show an event of hunting and butchering animals, but with the roles reversed. The humans act like animals (mostly cowering and breathing heavy), and the animals like humans. In my opinion it would have been more potent to have the humans still behaving human, which would then make us think "Hey, maybe animals are more like us than we think." but nah, just reinforces what I already thought about animals.

Anyway, not a poorly made movie, i liked the camera work. Just not my style of storytelling i suppose.
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2/10
Interesting concept, poorly executed
jlwatson197926 February 2022
I get the concept of the movie. It feels like something PETA members would get off on. The role reversal idea would make a entertaining film, but it is was very poorly executed. I will say the cinema-photographer did their job because that's probably the only thing I'll say was done well.
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1/10
Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel
greenhouse35056 November 2021
At only 64 minutes long. The 1:41 sec trailer IS the movie. Toss in the French dialogue and this is a classic... NOT!

Soooo many things I can think of as a better time waster. Like watching paint dry!

1 star is generous.
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1/10
Nominated by who for awards?
dannyrest8 November 2021
You really have to wonder what kind drugs people were on or how drunk they were to nominate this stupid movie for any awards other than the Razzie Award.

I found this movie super annoying to watch, not just because of the idiotic cut scenes or the pointless shots of nothing. But the camera shake stuff was way too much and literally there is no point to the movie. The fake animal heads and gloves didn't help with the lame VFX either. Even the captive people were dumber than my dogs. I've had multiple dogs manage to break their chains quicker than these fools that couldn't when their lives depended on it. Without a swivel on the chain all you have to do is keep twisting until a link breaks. My dogs figured that out faster than the people ever would have in the movie. Save yourself the time and trouble watch any of the The Island of Dr. Moreau movies instead.
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6/10
Where's The Beef?
piersoncayla16 February 2022
A delightful and humorous perspective. While it may not stop us from eating meat, it certainly makes you think twice when you see a truckload of humans being rounded up like cattle and sent to the slaughter.
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3/10
3/10 for the camera work
vkim-449991 May 2022
There is no story. It's just a series of random clips put together, but the camera work was very pleasant.

I understand the message they want to send with this movie, but my nan could've done better and she's dead.

Some intoxication from certain substances would probably blunt the pain of realising that you spent money to watch this.
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7/10
Beautifully shot, awkwardly written
albino_slug-8090119 April 2022
In my opinion it's impossible to rate films on a single scale since their goals and methods vary so much, so this is a 7/10 for what it is: an odd experimental indie film.

The basic concept is good. A dialogueless movie showing the mistreatment of animals with the roles reversed. It intercuts between different groups of humans serving as analogues for different animals.

Unfortunately, I feel like some fall flat. People as cattle has been done before and this doesn't do much unique beyond a few especially effective scenes. The dog fighting segment was much better executed until the stories intertwine, breaking the analogy. Dogs and cattle are both often mistreated, but not in the same ways. I think it would have been better as a collection of short films.

The cinematography is excellent though, with bleakly beautiful outdoor shots, grimy industrial indoor shots, and a camera keeping the animal people just far enough away or out of focus to avoid making it too obvious they're just people with costume heads and gloves.

I'd recommend checking it out as long as you know what you're getting into. This is more arthouse than slasher flick.
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1/10
Could have been real good.
jacobmeudt25 November 2021
Go watch a good movie instead of this.

Martyrs The Holy Mountain Solaris The Stalker Salo A Serbian Film Time Crimes.

I am going to input some more words so that I make the word quota for this review.
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9/10
A Real Gut Punch of a Film
zia_andrews6 December 2021
I have to admit, like some others, I wasn't holding out much hope for this film at the beginning. It seemed to be all over the place and I couldn't work out what it was supposed to be about, but something made me stick with it. And I'm glad I did.

When the penny finally dropped and I "Got It", then it really made an impression on me.

I understand the lack of dialogue can be annoying for some, but I think that's what made me sit back and just watch, allowing me to see what I believe the writer/director of this film wanted us to see.

US - in every undignified way that many of us subject animals to, some for food, some just for fun, on a daily basis - and don't really give it a second thought as we go about our business in our own glorious, inhumane way.

As the title of my review says, a real GUT PUNCH of a film. It took a while, but when it hit, it hit hard. Very thought provoking.
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1/10
Worst movie
hugginsdavid-3970527 November 2021
I would beat who made this mess with a stick until I cramped then I would beat him again when it stopped hurting. Worst movie of all worse movies. It should be put in a lead box and thrown into the ocean with 5 ft of concrete.
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1/10
1.5 hours I will never get + 5 bucks in HD
tlfreek3 January 2022
Disjointed, fragmented, unbelievable and insulting. You should never waste your time or money on garbage like this. It's that bad...well perhaps two steps beyond that.
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5/10
Middle of the road 5/10
Skoomakiin28 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This wasn't for me, but it'll definitely float someone else's boat.

A couple of the scenes - such as the dog fight scene near the end - are brutal. But it's almost trying TOO hard to have an emotional impact on the viewer. And therefore, in my opinion, gets annoying. (It's also not particularly well done.... I'll cry at anything, even adverts, and this barely stirred me.)

Apart from a few good moments, the rest to me is shaky camera work, heavy breathing and a lot of what I would call amateur art student aesthetic. Despite it having no dialogue and being practically 100% visual, I found myself wanting to reach for my phone whilst I watched. Not a good sign as I can easily get lost in a film, but I wasn't enthralled by this one.

It's only an hour long. So give it a go - maybe this style is right up your alley! It's not for me, wouldn't watch again, wouldn't recommend. Doesn't mean it's awful. Just that it's not for me.
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10/10
Finally a movie worth watching
zuzkavizi9 January 2022
Don't let the imbecilic 1 star reviews put you off. This movie deserves more attention than the safe and meaningless drivel getting 90 % ratings across the board recently (i.e. Power of the dog, the french dispatch)

Kudos to these filmmakers for making a movie that matters.
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10/10
More brave and essential than 99% of stuff out there
sopoci18-570-2966419 January 2022
Unique, wonderfully shot, and at it's core, absolutely essential. Anyone giving this movie 1/10 obviously has no attention span, and is part of the problem. If you want a movie worth a damn, check this out.
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10/10
Watch till the end!!!!!!
honestutubrevuz9 January 2022
The ending of this movie does the entire rest of the film justice.....

Though, the entire film is oozing with atmosphere and originality.

Finally somebody willing to take risks and with something to say beyond some cliche PERSONAL coming of age, or revenge plot.

This movie is not about a personal story. It is about BIG issues, and well worth everyone's time.

Bravo!
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8/10
I was All Set to give this a Much Lower Score, Till The LAST 10 MINS!! :O
midnitepantera8 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I found myself being annoyed by the lack of speech, the confusion of these half man- half animals and the humans they trapped and hunted. The annoying editing. I almost turned it off.

But I stuck with it, considering it's just barely 1 hour long, and toward the last 10-15 minutes, The HORRIBLE REALIZATION of what I was watching Punched Me HARD in The CHEST!! : (

This isn't some weird animals turning on people, it's not some Island of Dr Moreau Experiment, It's not a bunch of crazy Red Neck Trophy hunters who tired of hunting animals, and dressed up with their trophy heads and decide to hunt people.

It's Called Anonymous Animals -- sport and trophy and canned/ caged hunters, people with NO EMPATHY for life that's not their own. Many HUGE corporation factory farms that torture and abuse the animals to death before they ever go to slaughter and on their way to slaughter. The idiots that participate in dog fights and also a lot of greyhound race dog owners (Yes, the Bureau of Land Management found thousands of greyhound carcasses out in the New Mexico Deserts when I was a teen, they were bodies of dogs that were NO LONGER WINNING!) These ARE THE ANONYMOUS ANIMALS! This movie is a HOrrific Lesson in what Many People do, Every Day, and DON"T CARE.

Factory Farms, torture animals to death, It's not like the few well run farms, where animals have a decent life in the sun before they mature and go to slaughter. The farmers of these smaller farms care about the animals. From breeding, thru birth, thru their adulthood and keep them healthy and well tended. I know everyone isnt gonna be a vegetarian, but we don't have to torture these animals from birth to death, they can at least be treated humane and have a decent life before their end for the consumption of humans.

The Veal and the Foie Gras (Goose) These animals are tortured to a horrible extent as babies. Not able to move in tiny pens, force fed with a tube down their throat for their whole life is PURE AGONY!!

I had a small tube put down my throat (via my nose) shoved down into my stomach for 10 days in a hospital once with a potential fatal bowel obstruction, I was on narcotic pain meds, and it was horrifically painful still.

Then at the end of this movie, the last 10 to 15 minutes, I realized a dog fight was coming and sure enough, the one broke my heart, as it was terrified and kept running to the half human dog that had given it a small amount of kindness, it's eyes begging for help.

This isn't some experiment of animals, it's trying to show all you Monster's with NO EMPathy, what it's like to be on the other side, you are in the body of that animal, you get to be confused, scared, punished, shocked with a cattle prod, shot in the head with a bolt gun when you least expect it. Watching the butcher cut up your family and friends while you are trapped in an electrified Pen. This is You stepping into an Animals shoes.

I felt heart broken, and sick. I love animals and have rescued them all my life. I don't eat veal, since I was 6 when my family realized the torture of these animals. As an adult, I try not to eat very much meat and wish I could be a full blown vegetarian, but I'm not a huge fan of most veggies, they taste like green and dirt to me. But I try to buy from small non factory farms, where animals (eggs, chicken/turkeys) are living in the sun and Not just some fake label that says Cage Free which is usually not much better and often a lie. I Never eat at KFC for decades, go Watch PETAs Kentucky Fried Cruelty video. :o I eat eggs or meat 1 or 2 times a week max. And a small portion.

And I am a slender healthy weight, Not someone just sitting around, cramming as much food in my face 24/7 without ever thinking how many animals have to die and suffer. And we have an epidemic of not just overweight, (which people can be overweight for many reasons, hormones, illnesses, medications, lack of proper exercise) I don't have a problem with someone being a bit overweight. I do have a problem with people being 400 and 800 pounds. Thats something they chose to do to themselves and the people who enable them, by bringing truck loads of McDonalds, KFC, Ribs, junkfood, sodas. I remember only 1 or 2 over weight kids in school, and the Heaviest Man in the world was in the Guiness World Book of Records, not living in every 10th house in every neighborhood of America.

WE ARE THE PROBLEM, PEOPLE DON'T GIVE A Crap ABOUT ANIMALS AND THEIR WELFARE. MANY OF US ARE THE MONSTERS TO ALL THESE POOR BEAUTIFUL ANONYMOUS ANIMALS.

I still think of the movie Starman (1984) with Jeff Bridges, which I loved when I was a teen. To this day I wish I had his powers to transfer the fear of that suffering slowly dying deer strapped to a truck hood into the hunter. A good hunter makes sure to kill the animal quickly. I don't hunt, but I know there are animals that have to be culled, because of over population and they will suffer and die of starvation, and many people enjoy deer meat. It's the hunter's that just do it for sport, for trophy, sorry but if a buck manages to survive to have a huge rack, He deserves to live. He's earned it. And these bozos who blind and run down dears with their tons of KC lights and helicopter hunting like Palin is know for. JusT YUK!!! And the worst offenders are the rich guys, who enjoy paying thousands of dollars for a caged or can hunt. There is NO sportsmanship in that, and they aren't gonna eat it, and it's often Endangered Species. I would enjoy watching these people ripped apart by a wild animal.

And I'm sure a bunch of you all that take the time to read this are gonna get ur panties all in a bunch, but I Really don't care, because compared to the horrible things you chose to do to innocent anonymous, animals, I'm not Hurting you,just cause my comment pisses you off or leaves you feeling angry. Too BAD!! Grow up and get you some compassion and empathy. Then my comment won't sting!! ;D.
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10/10
One star reviewers are OBLIVIOUS
uberrorysb10 January 2022
This movie is saying important things, that do not get said enough, in a unique, insightful, thought provoking, and powerful way. Was it made for less money than most Hollywood movies? Clearly. Do you need to have an attention span higher than that of a two-year-old to watch it? Yes you do... Does that mean it should be rated low? Absolutely not! Ignore the morons. We need more films like this!
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10/10
NO DIALOGUE NEEDED
bradalejohn-1916325 April 2022
It seems like a very long infomercial about why to become vegan, but I still liked it. While it won't make me give up meat, it does make me think about what the meat that I consume goes through before it gets to my table. It makes you think about how all animals in general are treated in every day life from the point of the animals themselves. The role reversal idea helps to drive this home exceptionally well. Too bad this was an indie film and not released mainstream. I wouldn't recommend letting anyone under 10 years old watch this movie.
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10/10
Amazing cinematography
williambriar1 May 2022
If you don't understand or like this film, go sit outside and the let adults review world class films. (Jk it was dog (literally)) I need to fill the rest of this up with text but the film was really bad.
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10/10
Subliminal genius
stevenwoodsecureaset16 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This is a seriously disturbing movie/story plot ! BUT, you have to stick with it..... It could be Said that the practical effects of the antagonistic animals are a bit dodgy but it didn't take me out of the movie ( provided you get as engrossed as I did in the weirdness of the situation, your suspension of disbelief won't be rocked - an essential ingredient for watching ANY movie) I personally liked the complete lack of explaination for the existence of the "animals" and took away a message of warning about humans Interference with genetics for farming... Coupled with that, it's an exploration of the realistic brutality of humans in farming ...no, not all farmers are murderers ( but if an outside/alien intelligence observed human farming as a practice this is likely how it would be perceived,-there are NO aliens in this movie), previous statement will make sense if you've seen the film !

Not recommended for anyone on the fence about going vegan - this would surely tip you over onto the side without bacon !!!!

Terrific little horror thriller with not a single line of dialog - it is made the better for it..... Full attention to every detail on screen required ! Could be described as an unrelated sequel to A24's LAMB movie of last year (if you also enjoyed the weirdness of that you're sure to feel the same about this little shocker) as mentioned elsewhere here, the final 10 mins is the meat (pun Intended) of the film and a scathing indictment of human brutality towards animals which trust humans (as a lifelong dog lover having owned "dangerous" breeds, I did find the final scene a hard watch and may well have shed a tear boohoo) furthermore, at a shade over 1hour runtime, you haven't got much to lose watching this -provided you like a little weirdness In your entertainment haha.
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10/10
Thought provoking
alderson-2642813 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Once you understood the message then no words were needed. It was very thought provoking. We don't give the animals the privilege and understanding of what's going on around them. I could feel the fear and feelings the bewilderment of the animal/human involved in the film. I cried at the( dog fight.) thinking this does happen out there somewhere.

I do eat meat. Obviously written by a vegan. My daughter is vegan but I admire her choice because I know she is right. I think we will be more mindful in the future and this film made the message clear. Probably to confusing for those who can't see past there own needs.
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Who are the beasts? Humans or animals?
searchanddestroy-128 January 2023
Anyone who has seen THE FARM, back in 2018, will think that this one is inspired from it. But beware, the story itself is not the same, only some so unusual elements makes you think about this link. The main matter is that those two quite different stories create some kind of analysis of the human - animal link (See title above). This one is without dialogues, it's not the first one, but it is still efficient. The cast is not great, though, look at the faces of the captives, when they arrive at the farm, they don't look scared at all, they seem to arrive at a museum for a visit, or for a new apartment to rent with the real estate agent.... Even after, they dont look so scared. Not enough, at least for my point of view. It is a flaw that could have easily been avoided. The overall scheme - human captive of a maniac - has already been told thousands of times since the late sixties and the Herschell Gordon Lewis' films, but that doesn't remove anything from this one, very inventive, and so typical of a French horror film as I crave for. One more thing, there is no blood in this movie, not gory sequence; and what for after all?
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