French environmental activist and filmmaker Cyril Dion returns to the screen with Animal, his second feature documentary tackling climate change and the impending sixth mass extinction. Animal premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the special Cinema for the Climate section, which showcases films with an environmental impact.
Dion’s directorial debut was the acclaimed feature documentary, Tomorrow (2015), which he co-directed with Mélanie Laurent. It won the 2016 César for best documentary and focused on finding concrete solutions and actions to combat climate change rather than presenting a negative narrative of inevitable disaster. In Animal, Dion initially seems to have changed strategies, throwing excessively violent images and clips our way of humankind’s horrendous abuse and destruction of animals along with pessimistic narration from one of the film’s leads. Fortunately, the film shifts directions and leans into positive human engagement with the natural world and the animal kingdom, of which we too are part.
Animal touches on many similar themes as Tomorrow, but positions its narrative from the perspective of two teenage environmental activists representing the next generation. Bella Lack, who hails from England, and Vipulan Puvaneswaran, from France, are the faces of the documentary. We first see them in their respective countries engaging in organized protests advocating for environmental protection. Bella and Vipulan both voice their frustration at the lack of results and recognize a need to shift strategies. Dion brings the two teens together and takes them on a journey around the world to speak with industry experts and learn more about climate change, animals, biodiversity, and various human efforts to “rewild” nature and restore the balance of our ecosystems.
Animal is presented almost entirely in English, with Bella providing voiceover narration. She is extremely articulate in both voiceover and on-screen interviews; however, through much of the film she, and Vipulan to a lesser degree, are quite pessimistic. One could argue they have a right to be, with the state of our planet’s ecosystems and extinction rates, and government opposition to environmental protection—but, in order to kick viewers into action there must be hope on the other side, a belief that humans can make a difference towards achieving a better environmental future. In one exchange, a sheep farmer explains to Bella that some people love animals and use it to hate humans, to which Bella responds, “That’s me.” The farmer points out that we won’t save animals or humans through hate. This gives Bella pause. Fortunately, she and Vipulan undergo their own journeys of self-discovery and by the film’s end, Bella admits she’s learned a lot about humans and seems more optimistic about our potential to help the environment and the animal kingdom.
The teen activists speak with a wide range of industry experts, world leaders, farmers, and ecologists all working to combat humans’ harmful activities and rewild nature. From political activism in Europe and beach clean-up in India, to rural farmers and an African safari, Bella and Vipulan find environmental action happening all over the world. This section of the film, which showcases the variety of positive human action toward environmental change, is the most effective and inspiring for viewers and, it seems, for Bella and Vipulan. Understanding the different pieces of biodiversity and how they fit together to create balance key to our survival is far more compelling than a doomsday narrative.
The film explains the importance of balance in the ecosystem by highlighting the work of many environmental activists, farmers, and leaders. In the Channel Islands, marine biologist Dr. Lotus Vermeer describes the chain reaction of events that led to the near extinction of the island fox, and her team’s successful efforts in restoring the ecosystem and the fox population. Claire Nouvian, founder of the non-profit conservation organization BLOOM, describes her successful campaign to ban destructive deep sea trawling in Europe after an eight year battle against powerful industrial lobbyists. We take a trip down memory lane with Dame Jane Goodall, Bella’s idol, as she reminds us of our deep connection to the natural world. In Kenya, entomologist Dr. Dino Martins explains the essential role of ants in the animal kingdom and how insects are key to our survival. Bella and Vipulan meet with the President of Costa Rica, who explains the country’s dedication to reforesting and their strategy to use profits from tourism to pay for environmental protection. European sheep and cattle farmers discuss the importance of cohabiting with wolves in order to curb the deer population and maintain the forest and vital plants. In the natural world, everything is connected.
While Animal doesn’t really offer small scale solutions for the everyday individual to combat climate change and the impending sixth mass extinction, the film is nevertheless effective at conveying the importance of restoring the natural world and repopulating the animal kingdom. Despite their early negativity, Bella and Vipulan choose hope and optimism about humankind’s ability to affect positive environmental change. While their travels in Animal may have come to an end, we’ll be seeing more of Bella and Vipulan in the coming years as it’s clear their journeys of activism and self-discovery have only just begun.
Score: B-