AUSTIN, Texas—At the genre mecca that is Fantastic Fest, a film about a half-human, half-animal hybrid isn't unusual (see Nova Seed for one example). But Ivan Tverdovsky's Zoology is not straightforward sci-fi. This Russian feature mashes together hyper-realism, a totalitarian society, and midlife self-discovery into a strangely appealing bizarro version of How Stella Got Her Groove Back. If the premise sounds as odd as Anne Hathaway's kaiju movie, it is. But this festival award winner ("Next Wave" Features, first place) is every bit as fun and surprising as Colossal.

If I had a tail...

Natasha works a seemingly routine job in acquisitions at a Russian zoo. At 55-years-old, she's settled into a comfortable routine that she isn't interesting in changing. Keeping in line with the customs of her coastal town, Natasha lives with her aging mother, wears ankle-length skirts and skin-covering sweaters, and generally speaks only when spoken to (which appears to only happen in work meetings and over dinner with Mom).

One day at the office, Natasha faints. Soon after, she's shown (rather artfully) vomiting in the bathroom. Doctors initially give Natasha painkillers for asthenia (extreme physical weakness), but they want to do some follow-ups. Not even office gossip can put a finger on the issue. "Maybe she's pregnant?" one woman suggests over lunch. "Who's the father, then?" says another. "I've never seen her with a man."

Natasha eventually goes for X-rays that illuminate things for the audience even if the medical staff remains perplexed. "When it started to ache, I applied some ointment to the lower back," she tells the doctor. He instructs her to head to the back room to disrobe and don the surgical gown. Here, Zoology finally reveals its premise.

Maybe those ankle-length skirts were more than local tradition: Natasha has grown a tail—a furry, flesh-colored, and active tail.

Ivan Tverdovsky / Fantastic Fest

Ivan Tverdovsky / Fantastic Fest

Ivan Tverdovsky / Fantastic Fest

Fighting for change

Beyond any medical concerns (talk about an unexpected growth ripe for examination), Zoology does well to incorporate its setting. In this religiously orthodox bit of small town Russia, standing out is a problem, and standing out because you have a freaking tail may be the worst thing in the world.

People in that doctor's office must have gabbed, because again and again Natasha overhears older women discussing a devil-possessed woman hiding among their ranks. "I heard a woman grew a tail after eating bad food at the zoo," says one. "I heard a woman was arrested for having an affair with an ape at the zoo," crows another. Natasha's own mother keeps up on the increasingly lavish rumors ("I heard there's a woman who's possessed, with a tail, and it has a mind of its own. Now she has cancer," she says over dinner). The most damning chatter paints the tail-woman as the devil incarnate. The increasingly over-the-top, end-of-the-world rhetoric provides effective comic relief as you're right with Natasha, still trying to decipher what is going to happen with the tail-situation.

Within a society that already places a woman like Natasha in a confined box, this situation initially appears devastating. She tries to confide in a local minister who turns her away from their place of worship. She tries to get into surgery as fast as possible, but doctors aren't sure how to proceed. Natasha's only solace may be the cigarettes she hides in her home's electricity meter (right next to an air freshener she uses to cover up any tail scents, too). Ars at Fantastic Fest The Vast of Night is an alien encounter film like no other

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But in the face of seeming doom on top of her pre-existent gloom, Natasha does something shocking. She changes. When a young doctor named Peter shows the slightest interest in her situation, she brings wine to an appointment and insists on a waterfront picnic (even though neither have ever had a drink before, apparently). The impact of one other human acknowledging Natasha's uniqueness as good (or even neutral) can't be overstated. Soon she's speaking up at the office, dancing in clubs among hip youth half her age, and inviting Peter over to her apartment (conveniently, he can fake it as a doctor's visit when Mom surprises them at the door). It doesn't all go well—a conservative boss doesn't appreciate skirts above the knee or casual cussing during staff meetings, for instance—but Natasha is happier than she's been in some time, perhaps ever.

In Russian film, happy endings choose you

Does Stella regain her groove? Can individuality and happiness win out even in the face of oppressive uber-conservatism? Zoology slyly doesn't declare victory either way; its story is more complicated because it happens in this small Russian village as opposed to anywhere else.

"People don’t crave their individuality anymore," says director Tverdovsky in his film's promotional materials. "Instead, they long for something universal. Our film is primarily about self-identification in the space that surrounds you. And the finale of our movie, in my opinion, quite accurately reflects things that are currently happening in my country and in Russian society. I suspect that in a lot of less totalitarian countries, a resolution similar to the ending of our film would not possible."

Imagining a US remake of Zoology is easy. The tropes of a rom-com would rear their ugly head and make it into a predictable, happy-ending film. But in Tverdovsky's version, the world is not simple, and neither is discovering your individuality. Tone reflects this reality, shifting between comedy, tragedy, romance, and drama freely after the tail is revealed. Throughout, Natasha is a relatable character you want to root for no matter if her happiness involves keeping or ditching the new appendage.

Ultimately, neither Natasha nor Tverdovsky knows if the tail needs to stay or go. She encounters fetishism, fear, and disdain. Some of the new experiences that make her happy also cause her grief. Real-world Russia is a place that bans people from being people in sometimes horrific ways (see its anti-gay crusade that even targets emoji). Zoology never forgets this, even when embracing the fact that what makes you you can feel so good.

According to screendaily, Arrow Films acquired North American rights to Zoology shortly after the Toronto Film Festival and plans to have some kind of US release. There's no planned UK release yet. For now, the film continues to show at festivals with dates posted on its Facebook page. You can read our other reviews from Fantastic Fest 2016 here: Colossal, a pair of film poster documentaries, and a trio of animated features.

Listing image by Ivan Tverdovsky / Fantastic Fest