There’s already something liminal about the early-morning weekend press screenings at film festivals, so when I stumbled into a Tribeca showing of Jeremiah Zagar’s “We the Animals” back in April, I was a prime candidate for the film’s surreal and immersive story. In this Sundance premiere based on the eponymous novel by Justin Torres, Zagar employs animation, magical realism, and deliciously grainy celluloid to transform a working-class upbringing into a contemplative fantasy. The film follows Jonah (a stellar Evan Rosado) as he grows up entwined in his raucous brothers’ games, his parents’ abusive dynamic, and his own sexual anxiety.
As we said in our Sundance review, the film is an “assured, confident feature-directing debut” that will “haunt you for days.” It’s rare to see a film these days that feels undeniably fresh—though “We the Animals” clearly draws on some seminal films, its blend of modern and analog sensibilities, coupled with a stellar script and cast, produce a timeless tale of adolescence. I was lucky enough to sit down with Jeremiah Zagar for an engaging discussion about his process, his influences, and our mutual adoration of Lynne Ramsay.
What drew you to “We the Animals” as a novel?
I was in a bookstore, McNally Jackson, and they have a “We Recommend” table. I always like to look at that “We Recommend” table, and I sometimes just read the first page of the book. I opened up the book and I read the first page and I was like, “This is my shit.” I was in a very introspective moment in my life, and I sat there, and I read it just at the cafe, I couldn’t stop reading it. I mean, it’s such an amazing book. And as I was reading it, I was like, “I know how to make this book into a movie. I know how to do this. Like, this is my kinda shit.” And then I bought, like, five copies after I read it, and I gave them to my producer, Jeremy [Yaches], and I gave them to Dan [Kitrosser], who was my co-writer, and I e-mailed Justin. And he has a website, so you can just e-mail him. And then I like, just went for it. And we hung out, and we liked each other, and we optioned it. And his people didn’t necessarily want us, but he wanted us, and we wanted to work the way he wanted to work with us. And that was it.
When you say they didn’t want you, you mean they were hoping for Universal to produce it or something?
I think they were hoping for more money, yeah. But he had gotten some really weird offers, like people who wanted to, like, turn it into “‘Malcolm in the Middle’ meets ‘Breaking Bad.’” Like, some weird shit, some sitcom-y, weird thing that was never gonna happen.