L'Animale

Which is more important, appearance or actuality? Tough tomboy Mati is about to graduate, while, however, she is much more interested in her clique consisting exclusively of boys – a bunch of motorbike-riding teens, giving the girls a hard time while roaming around town. Meanwhile, Mati's parents, Gabriele and Paul, are almost finished building their new small-town house. The family’s comfortable stasis is disturbed when Mati gets to know the self-confident and very different Carla. Suddenly, Mati's best friend Sebastian becomes interested in a more sexual relationship while a well-kept secret between Gabriele and Paul also rises to the surface. Whether young or old, caught between instinct and reason, between appearance and reality, all the characters in this film share an inner turmoil. Director Katharina Mueckstein once again proves herself to be a highly sensitive seismograph of social realities and delivers a direct and rousing narrative of youthful coolness and crumbling facades which is underscored by a fantastic soundtrack.