Film review: Only The Animals directed by Dominik Moll

Thriller about the disappearance of a glamorous woman in rural France plays satisfying narrative tricks and explores the tale from different perspectives

This French small-town mystery, centred around the disappearance of a woman during a snowstorm and how it affects the lives of various characters, is a straightforward review: if you like thrillers, and are prepared to read subtitles, you should see this and not find out anything else about it.

There’s nothing revolutionary going on here, but this Midwinter Murder is smarter than your average tale of rural intrigue and deception, with satisfying revelations and an agreeably unexpected route to get to them.

Writer/ director Moll (Harry, He’s Here To Help) deploys an interlocking narrative with the story told through the eyes of five different characters.

There’s always something fulfilling about seeing the same events from different perspectives and you’ll enjoy piecing together this jigsaw.

Moll though throws a kink in the process – just when you think you know which five characters you’ll be following, he opens up a whole new window.

Plus he includes elements of random chance into the kind of narrative that usually demands logic, clear motivations and mechanical cause and effect.

Risky, but apart perhaps from the last image, it all pays off handsomely.

4/5 stars