The Werebull of Camargue | Cinema Sojourns

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Some movie lovers may be familiar with the Camargue region in the south of France since it has figured prominently in a number of films, especially 1953’s Crin Blanc: Le Cheval Sauvage (English title, White Mane), Albert Lamorisse’s lyrical tale of a boy and the wild, untamed horse he befriends, and Maniac (1963), a psychological thriller from Hammer Studios. This unique expanse of marshlands and salt flats is located between the Mediterranean Sea and two arms of the Rhone River and is well known for its wildlife which includes the stocky, semi-feral horses of Camargue as well as the region’s bulls (the animals are bred and raised for “course camarguaise,” a bloodless form of bull fighting). It is in this stunning landscape that French Algerian director Emma Benestan has set her second feature film, Animale (2024). It is an impressionistic exploration of the area’s ancient traditions and folklore focusing on Nejma (Oulaya Amamra), a 22-year-old woman who is determined to master the art of bull-running, even though it has always been exclusively an all-male athletic competition.

This dangerous sport is not to be confused with the annual “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, Spain, where scores of daredevil participants are given a head start to outrun six bulls in a half mile race within a closed off section of the city. In Benestan’s film, bull-running is something else. It takes place in a public arena where razeteurs (Camargue bullfighters) dress in white and try to snatch a tassel or rosette from the bull’s head with a metal hook. The bulls are unharmed in the confrontations but their rage at being baited always triggers violent reactions and a razeteur could easily get gored or killed by the beast’s horns.

Nejma (Oulaya Amamra) faces her fears during a training session for a bull-running event in ANIMALE (2024).

Nejma never articulates why she wants to prove herself in this macho male environment but Benestan slowly provides the heroine’s motivations, not through dialogue or a tightly constructed narrative, but through Nejma’s body language, facial expressions, and a sensory bombardment of imagery and sound design. (The ravishing cinematography is by Ruben Impens [2022’s The Eight Mountains] and [2021’s Titane]) and the brooding music score is by Yan Wagner.

ANIMALE (2024) starring Oulaya Amamra as a female bull-runner in southern France celebrates the landscapes of the Camargue region and the physical beauty of bulls.

As the only woman among the local bull-runners, Nejma is subjected to the kind of teasing you’d expect from her male compadres but most of it is good natured (she even shares a bunkhouse and locker room with the men). And she also has the respect of Leonard (Claude Chaballier), the ranch owner who breeds the bulls for games, and his son Tony (Damien Rebattel), a supportive friend who helps with her training. Yet, a constant tension still exists between Nejma and the razeteurs because some of them believe Najma is handicapped by her gender. A backhanded compliment like “Not bad for a girl” is exactly the sort of thing Nejma is trying to rise above.

French cowboys Kylian (Vivien Rodriguez, left) and Jordan (Elies-Morgan Admi-Bensellam) have mixed feelings about a female bull-runner in ANIMALE (2024), directed by Emma Benestan.

Yet Nejma’s determination to prove herself soon has unexpected consequences. She begins to connect with the animals on a psychological level while witnessing their mistreatment on the ranch such as being held down and marked with a red-hot branding iron.

Screenshot<br>" data-large-file="https://cinemasojourns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/bull-cu.jpg?w=584" loading="lazy" width="911" height="1015" src="https://cinemasojourns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/bull-cu.jpg?w=911" alt="" class="wp-image-27728" srcset="https://cinemasojourns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/bull-cu.jpg 911w, https://cinemasojourns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/bull-cu.jpg?w=135 135w, https://cinemasojourns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/bull-cu.jpg?w=269 269w, https://cinemasojourns.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/bull-cu.jpg?w=768 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 911px) 100vw, 911px" />Bull culture is explored in the 2024 fantasy drama ANIMALE which combines folk myths with gender identity matters.

Animale takes a turn into darker territory after Nejma parties one night with fellow cowboys Kylian (Vivien Rodriguez), Jordan (Elies-Morgan Admi-Bensellam) and Arthur (Pierre Roux) and blacks out in a field, where she is found the following morning. She has no memory of what happened but where did she get that bloody gash on her back? Shortly after this incident, Arthur’s gored corpse is found and Thunder, Nejma’s favorite bull in the herd, is blamed for the nocturnal attack, despite a lack of evidence, and put to death.

Nejma (Oulaya Amamra) playfully pretends to be a bull during a training session in ANIMALE (2024), a...