Presented at the opening of the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes 2023, the second film by the talented Thomas Cailley will be released in theaters on October 4. After seducing the Croisette, the director unveiled yesterday the first trailer intended for the general public.
Original and daring, The Animal Kingdom imagines a world where some humans are transformed into animals. The “bugs” are parked in observation centers. Cailley masters hybridization like a Bong Joon-ho. Between humor and fantasy, Le Règne animal and its fabulous bestiary brilliantly condenses contemporary anxieties (destruction of life, pandemic, migration). At the heart of this mutation, we find the relationship between a father and his son, a universal theme superbly revisited here. In the skin of the teenager, Paul Kircher and his singular charm impress. As a worried and protective father, Romain Duris finds one of his finest roles. Two beasts of the stage for a film that has dog.
Nine years earlier, Thomas Cailley had already burst the screen with his first feature film Les Combattants, a successful attempt at a survivalist comedy. This one depicts the meeting between Arnaud, a shy and clumsy young man charged, despite himself, with taking over the family business and Madeleine, a girl of her stubborn age, and convinced that the apocalypse can come at any moment. to the other.
In addition to awards gleaned from numerous festivals – including the International Critics’ Prize at Cannes – the film was 9 times at the 2015 Césars and won three cuts: Best Actress for Adèle Haenel, Best Male Newcomer for Kévin Azaïs and of course that of the best first film for Thomas Cailley.