A budding romance between two young women gets complicated when one reveals her true self in this very visually stunning debut feature film Jacqueline Castel.

Heather is a young woman who has dreams of becoming a hockey player and lives in a small town. However, she is constantly met with resistance from the local coach, but things get more worse at home. Her mother is overprotective of her while her dad tries to be as kindhearted as possible. However, they both warn Heather that she must return home at midnight. However, one night is destined to change her life.

One night, she sees Jonny, a rebellious woman stealing from her family store. Instead of confronting her, she instantly finds herself smitten. Jonny, who is dating the local baseball star, begins to become attracted to Heather and the two spend a lot of time together. However, when the two finally share a night of passion, Jonny learns the truth about why Heather must be home at midnight. Will Jonny accept the fact that the woman she loves is actually a werewolf?

This is a very intriguing and interesting movie that melds the LGBTQ+ romance film along with the werewolf movie. Screenwriter Jae Matthews and Jacqueline Castel bring a film that focuses more on the romantic angle rather than focus on the horror aspect. However, we get shades of the horror aspect when we are introduced to Heather’s mother, who is seen with scratches on her tummy as she changes clothes. One can only guess how she got those scratches and goes overboard when it comes to her protecting Heather. Kudos must go out to Heidi von Palleske for pulling off this performance as the mother who goes to extremes to look out for her daughter.

Bobbi Salvör Menuez deserves accolades for her role as Heather, a determined small town woman who only finds solace with her dad, played by the legendary Stephen McHattie. Her mother doesn’t help and spends a lot of time trying to get away from everyone. She is constantly berated and let down by the town hockey coach because of his discriminatory ways. She eventually finds happiness when it comes to Jonny, played by Amandla Stenberg. Sporting a punk style look, Jonny is tough but tends to not be as open to Heather because of her “relationship” with the baseball star of town. Eventually, she and Heather do get close.

Which leads to the third act. The love scene between Heather and Jonny is visually beautiful and very tasteful with its visuals and filters. However, it is also the catalyst of learning the dark secret of Heather, which leads to a very shocking turn of events and a confrontation. That confrontation finally unleashes the horror aspect of things but without having to resort to anything expected in some ways.

In the end, My Animal is a different kind of “beauty and the beast” kind of film and yet it so beautifully done and executed. Bobbi Salvör Menuez and Amandla Stenberg show amazing chemistry here and the third act definitely is one to talk about.

WFG RATING: A-

Paramount Global Content Distribution and XYZ Films presents a Band With Pictures/Good Movies production. Director: Jacqueline Castel. Producers: Andrew Bronfman and Michael Solomon. Writer: Jae Matthews. Cinematography: Bryn McCashin. Editing: Marc Boucrot and Jacqueline Castel.

Cast: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Amandla Stenberg, Heidi von Palleske, Stephen McHattie, Cory Lipman, Charles F. Halpenny, Harrison W. Halpenny, Rizzo Jeppesen, Dean McDermott

The film will hit select theaters on September 8 and on Digital on September 15.