Only The Animals * * * * ½

Only The Animals is brrrrrrrr  illiant.

It's a bit hard to write about Only The Animals without giving spoilers, so sorry if this review is a bit light on. 

This teasing, clever, French mystery is made up of several storylines, reflecting the personal involvement and perspective of each character, resulting in a whole that only we can see.

In rural France a woman visits her secret lover.  On the way home she sees a car parked on the side of  a country road.  There is no one in it.  It's the depth of winter and there is a snow storm.  When she arrives home she notices her husband is acting strangely.  He is finding reasons to isolate himself.  Later she learns from the TV news of a missing woman who has left her car abandoned.  Why would she do that?  No one could survive long in such weather. 

Then we see the story of the lover she was visiting. A lonely unstable man. 

After that we change locations to the city, and see the story of a waitress who meets a glamorous woman.  A relationship develops.  But the waitress also has a secret way of earning extra money part time and unbeknownst to herself what she does has connected her to the husband mentioned above, who lives in the same area as the glamorous woman she has met.

And then to Africa for another thread which will tie in perfectly to all the characters above..

The retelling of this fascinating story from different perspectives is brilliantly done. It never puts a foot wrong. It really is a beautifully told as it overlaps events but still remain logical, lucid and engaging.