Adapting Justin Torres' autobiographical novel, Jerimiah Zagar crafts a haunting, singular coming-of-age story.

Jeremiah Zagar's dreamy coming of age film, based on Justin Torres' semi-autobiographical novel, casts a hypnotic spell.

The story, such as it is, has the dreamy flow of childhood remembered, but though the honeyed tones of the magic hour are often used, there's never a glossing over the toughness of life being faced by these free-range kids.

Zagar has a gift for capturing a character's essence in an image or two, via simple compositions occasionally augmented by spellbinding snatches of animation. And he imbues the entire enterprise with a fascinating feeling of maybe-memory.

Immersive, impressionistic and told through a series of loosely-connected vignettes, mostly revolving around Jonah's coming of age within his dysfunctional household.

A complicated coming-of-age tale that not only brings refreshing insights but gives us beautifully rendered images that have the power to haunt you for days.

In every scene, We the Animals evokes not only the specificity of that world but the deep-seated challenges of escaping it.

We the Animals is a tiny film but mesmerizing in its own loose, dreamy way; it's also a distinctive take on the discovery of queer identity.