We the Animals

Told from the perspective of 10-year-old Jonah (Evan Rosado), 'We the Animals' follows three mixed-race brothers, Evan, Manny (Isaiah Kristian) and Joel (Josiah Gabriel), as they are caught up in the cycle of abuse and passionate reconciliation they witness between their parents, Paps (Raúl Castillo), 'Knives Out', 'Atypical') and Ma (Sheila Vand, 'Undone', 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night'). Whenever Paps beats their mother and temporarily leaves her, Ma takes to her bed in depression and leaves the boys to run riot, stealing food and roaming about their town in upstate New York unsupervised. By night, Jonah crawls beneath the bed with his sketchbook and pencils and draws to express himself, with the designs growing steadily more monstrous and disturbing as he gets older. As the brothers grow up and grow apart, Manny and Joel seek to be powerful men like their father, whereas the quiet and observant Jonah wishes to find his own identity but doesn't even know where to begin in this coming-of-age family drama.

'We the Animals' is adapted from the 2011 novel by Justin Torres. Jeremiah Zagar ('In A Dream', 'Starved for Attention', 'Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart') directs and Daniel Kitrosser ('Bar Crossed Lovers', 'Old Days') pens the script.