Sundance London: Corporate Animals

Corporate Animals
Directed by Patrick Brice
Starring Jessica Williams, Karan Soni, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Martha Kelly, Dan Bakkedahl, Calum Worthy, Jennifer Kim, Nasim Pedrad, Ed Helms and Demi Moore

by Joanna Orland

From the writer of British comedy series Peep Show and featuring a cast with a wealth of television experience, it’s no wonder Corporate Animals feels more like an undercooked sitcom than a film. The cast are certainly no strangers to comedy, with a collective CV that includes the likes of SNL, Veep, The Office, Baskets and more. And while this comedy horror film does deliver a few hearty laughs, it lacks plot, character development, empathy, logic and likability.

An exploration of the cutthroat corporate dog-eat-dog / human-eat-human world, Corporate Animals traps 8 coworkers in a cave, as they attempt to team-build on a retreat. Colleagues gossip while company head Lucy (Demi Moore) manipulates and controls her staff, even as they’re trapped below ground with no escape. Backstabbing, hookups and cannibalism aren’t enough to pique interest in the film, but the eating of human flesh does lead to the film’s best joke.

A few laughs aside, Corporate Animals has very little to offer and is a very frustrating watch because of it. The cast is wasted in this film that could just as easily have been a sketch rather than a full-blown feature.