Corporate Animals: The Absurdity Of The Corporate World

That terror joins comedy is nothing new and, in recent years, we are witnessing a moment in which black humor seems to enjoy a relevant space in the cinema. Corporate Animals (Patrick Brice, 2019) gives us a parody of large companies, of their internal hierarchy and of situations that, although crazy, are horrifying as well as everyday.

What if, suddenly, employees of the same company were locked up for days? That seems to be the premise of the film in which a Demi Moore stands out in the role of Lucy. A role that suits her like a glove: that of a tyrant boss who tries to appear nice, who cares little about climate change unless the image of her company depends on it. In short, a she-wolf in sheep’s clothing that will drive her employees out of their minds.

The plot is simple: the members of a company dedicated to the commercialization of edible cutlery go on a trip organized by it. After carrying out various activities, they go to a cave that, after an earthquake, is obstructed, preventing the workers and Lucy herself from leaving. In a suffocating and claustrophobic space, all the grudges of work will come to light as they struggle to survive.

The crazy will soon take over the scene, cannibalism will fight hunger while we, as spectators, attend a show that goes from the horrible to the laughable in a matter of seconds. Despite the bad reviews obtained in certain media, the truth is that Corporate Animals is one of those films that invite us to laugh at our present and alleviate some of the tensions that we suffer daily at work.

Corporate Animals : an extreme situation

If what we hope is to see a great comedy, full of intelligent humor and that invites us to reflect, then it is better not to see Corporate Animals . However, if what we want is to entertain ourselves, enjoy ourselves and simply let ourselves be carried away by a somewhat absurd laugh, Corporate Animals is what we need.

I say we need because, sometimes, daily obligations, work and stress are an obstacle to disconnect and, in that case, the best medicine is none other than laughter, forgetting a little about our routine. It is true that the film reminds us, in part, of all those activities in contemporary life, activities that become absurd at times and that, out of fear of losing our job, we end up accepting with a bitter smile.

Today, we live in a time when some large companies are more like a schoolyard than a serious workplace; in which creativity is not rewarded as much as obedience. And that is precisely what Corporate Animals brings us , a critique of these current models, of the tyranny and power that our workplace can exercise over us to, finally, mock competition among equals and point towards a single guilty which, in this case, will be Lucy.

From the first minutes of the footage, we observe how some of the employees agree to carry out activities that, voluntarily, they would never have wanted to do. Why do you accept? Quite simply, out of fear of losing their job, fear of retaliation or even fear of not being promoted.

Sometimes, we are faced with unpleasant situations or with which we do not agree; a fear takes hold of us, preventing us from saying what we think. Thus, Corporate Animals  paints a rather absurd, but terribly everyday scenario.

In a small space in which they struggle to survive, these individuals will bring out their wildest side with the sole purpose of not dying after the collapse. In turn, the darker side of the company will be seen in the hands of a ruthless boss who manipulates her employees at will. But if they have learned anything from this great adventure, it is that teamwork can significantly increase what can be achieved individually and, thus, in an ironic, dark and laughable way, the workers will look for a way to end their ordeal .

In extreme situations, humans let ourselves be carried away – or we are tempted to let ourselves be carried away – by our instincts and by survival. In this situation, losing your job is no longer as relevant as the possibility of losing your own life. In this way, we go to countless crazy situations that will put the untouchable boss in a not so privileged place.

The cave, in reality, is nothing more than a metaphor for the ties of daily life, a setting that will serve to put all the dirty laundry of the company on the table.

A contemporary satire

Surely, Corporate Animals passes without pain or glory for the general public. And it is that it is still just another comedy, that it has not invented anything new and that it is closely linked to the American canons that, from a European point of view, are more absurd than intelligent. Well, it is not exempt from falling for the easy joke, the archetypal and forgetting, from time to time, the plausible.

Despite this, it is still interesting to analyze a comedy that questions certain behaviors of large companies, the titans of the business world. Because, in reality, its intention is not serious or deep, but rather it tries to make us smile and invite us to imagine the most insane of revenges against those who oppress us.

Somehow, it puts before our eyes the most macabre reverie of everything that you would say to the most tyrant boss if you did not have to measure consequences. Likewise, he criticizes corporate partnerships in which the brand image ends up annulling the individual, turning him into a number and squeezing him to get the most out of it in exchange for a very low salary.

A product of pure evasion, that is Corporate Animals , a comedy that will bring us nothing innovative, nothing more than a good laugh, although we can get to empathize with it. Demi Moore is comfortable in a character that the public will soon identify as “that boss who” and who does not hesitate to put her employees in situations that threaten their own physical integrity.

In short, we are facing an absurd and crazy comedy, very American, and probably easily forgettable, but not irrelevant for that. A satire of corporate image, of the nonsense that prevails in the world of large companies.

His message, stupid as it may seem, is more powerful than it appears and, surely, more than one is identified with one of his characters. Finally, this absurd and macabre joke ends up conquering us; although the safest thing is that it does not go beyond that, an absurd and macabre joke without greater relevance to the story.