Peripheria (2015)

This doesn't start off looking like an animation at all. It could plausibly be the beginning of one of those gritty crime dramas from Marseille. Swiftly, though, that changes and we realise that what was once an human dominated society is now almost bereft of us, and is the domain of some lithe and menacing looking hounds with a penchant for playing football - until one of them runs off with the ball. Indeed, in may ways these animals mirror the behaviour of people as they explore their abandoned concrete environment. Then a siren sounds and many flee indoors into an huge, largely derelict, apartment block and head for the roof. Meantime, the ball-stealer is wandering the subterranean corridors of a car park. Then we discover just what the sirens were for. I found this to be quite a potent reflection on just how quickly nature can take control of what was once human territory, how quickly the wildlife can adapt it's new surroundings and at just how quickly people can be forgotten in a place where they once thrived. The drawing is fine, but it's the audio that is more effective. It almost conveys a degree of dialogue between the beasts and as the film concludes you wonder if they had a sense of what was to come. I can't say that I did.