Calvin Demba, the British actor, writer and director best known on screen for the Netflix hit “Supercell,” has lined up an impressive cast list for his second short film behind the camera, “The Animals.”
George MacKay (“Rose of Nevada,” “Sense and Sensibility”) stars alongside Louisa Harland (“Renegade Nell,” “Derry Girls”), Nathalie Emmanuel (“Game of Thrones,” “Megalopolis”) and Eric Kofi Abrefa (“Supacell,” BMF”) in the project, written and directed by Demba and produced by Tuli Litvak (“Tin Soldier,” “Stages”).
“The Animals” centers on Miles (MacKay) as he struggles with growing feelings of emasculation and emotional impotency within his relationship with Remona (Harland). An opportunity to reclaim his sense of self arises from another man’s act of heroism during a violent home invasion — but as events spiral out of control, he’s forced to confront the destructive masculine ideals driving him.
“I wanted to make a film that takes a satirical look at gender stereotypes and the role they play in relationships,” said Demba, who made his directorial debut with 2022’s “BabyDolls.” “‘The Animals’ examines masculinity and how it can become performative. It pokes fun at modern relationships and the ways we unconsciously perform gender roles within them, exploring the gap between who we are and who we feel we should be. Tonally, the film is darkly comic, but the violence never feels slapstick. It needed to feel grounded in reality because that threat of violence mirrors the conversations we’re having about masculinity itself.”
