Starring Samuel Anderson, Dominique Tipper, Martin McCann

Directed by Tom Harberd

Tensions are running high on an inner-city estate. Penned-in like laboratory mice, people are turning vicious, taking out their frustrations on the animals around them.

This 25-minute short based on China Miéville’s short story of the same name, adapted and directed by Tom Harberd, is a beautifully-shot fantasy tale that frustratingly leaves you begging for more. It’s the ideal opener to a feature or series, but in isolation serves as a tasty entree.

Samuel Anderson (Danny Pink in Doctor Who) lives on a sprawling council estate in the capital – there’s some great overhead drone footage to establish the sense of place – and bumps into former schoolmate Diana (Dominique Tipper – The Expanse, The Girl With All The Gifts) who tells him that Dan (Martin McCann – ‘71, Calibre) is back on the scene. Dan has some sort of Svengali influence over residents and a stag appears with burning antlers.

What exactly is going in? We get some clues from news footage about a pagan barrel-burning ritual, and then jumping forwards a year it’s apparent that feral animals are fighting back against the urban sprawl. There’s no clear explanation of what has happened, but it’s a fascinating conceit.

Verdict: A classy, nocturnal fantasy that sits somewhere between nightmare and fairy tale, it’s begging to be expanded. 8/10

Nick Joy

For more details about the film, click here