Animol (2026)

Throwing Off the Shackles - Animol review by griggs

Nothing says rehabilitation quite like locking a load of frightened teenage boys together and expecting them to behave.

Ashley Walters makes an impressive feature debut. The institution feels properly miserable, with everyone posturing, sizing each other up and working out who to lean on next. Looking scared is basically an invitation to get battered.

Tut Nyuot is excellent as Troy, carrying the film without begging for sympathy. His relationship with Krystian is convincing too, even if Nick Love’s script puts up a few signposts along the way. I was happy enough to follow them. There’s a surprising amount of tenderness beneath all the aggression.

Then comes the dance sequence. It looks like a drama-school workshop, but weirdly, it works. For a few minutes the boys stop guarding themselves and just move. I found myself thinking of Denis Lavant’s final dance in Beau Travail, that same giddy rush of throwing off the shackles.

Not where I expected a British prison drama to take me.