Last updated on August 9th, 2025 at 03:49 am
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
In the Camargue region of the South of France, there remains an infamous, long-standing tradition of bullfighting. Local youths participate in the elegant yet dangerous challenge, practicing a modernized version of the sport that seeks not to kill the animals but rather to showcase agility and dominance. Among them is Nejma, an intrepid twenty-two-year-old with dreams of one day winning the annual competition. The only woman working on the cattle ranch, she trains tirelessly to prove herself equal among the men, both in and outside of the arena. The ranchers share a deep respect for the bulls, though when a loose bull threatens the community of riders and young men begin turning up dead, a hunt to find and kill the creature begins. Nejma fears for the bull, beginning a dark, mysterious transformation of her own.
Film Movement distributes in the US.
Described as “a brutal disorienting horror fable burning with feminine anger.”
This is a French-Belgian body-horror drama.
Wild Bunch Distribution released Animale in Cinemas in France on November 27, 2024.
NOS Audiovisuais released Animale in Cinemas in Portugal on July 31, 2025.
Film Movement released Animale on VOD and Digital on August 8, 2025.
Director: Emma Benestan
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