The Animal Kingdom (3 Stars)

This is the 15th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

In the near future there's an illness that makes people turn into animals. Some turn into fish, some into birds, some into bears, some into frogs; any sort of animal. It's a gradual process. At first the person retains his intelligence, but as the disease progresses he degenerates more and more into animal qualities. These people are tolerated, as long as they don't hurt anyone. There are care homes to look after the critters, as they're called.

Emile lives with his parents. His mother is slowly becoming a bear. At first she's kept at home, but then they decide to send her to a care home. On the way there's a road accident, and the bus carrying the critters crashes into a swamp. About 40 critters escape. The police want to deal with them carefully, but the army is sent in with instructions to shoot to kill.

While Emile is trying to find his mother, he realises that he's turning into a wolf. He tries to disguise it, because he wants to fit in at his new school.

It's a strange story. I could understand if everyone were turning into the same type of animal, but it's weird that people are turning into different animals.