Showing in Pairing Up block October 5th, 2025, at 7:00 PM
To purchase tickets: HQSFF
By Valerie Milano
Hollywood, CA (The Hollywood Times) 9/22/25 – Animator Matthew Leahy’s short film Feral is a three-minute plunge into the chaotic energy of underground queer nightlife. Created during his time at USC, the film serves as both an ode and an exploration, where abstract visuals collide with loose narrative to evoke the disorienting, yet life-affirming, pulse of the club scene.
Leahy explained to me during a recent Zoom interview, “I knew I wanted it to be aggressive and uncomfortable, and to capture that feeling of being in a space like that where you’re like, I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know where I’m going. But I’m here for the ride.” This approach results in a work that prioritizes atmosphere over traditional narrative structure, immersing the viewer in sensation rather than clarity.
Its central character, an anthropomorphic, chaotic figure embodying the id, stumbles through a world of excess and instinct. As Leahy described, “They’re just stumbling around and following wherever the animalistic instincts take them.” This raw character design captures both vulnerability and recklessness, a reflection of the nightlife’s duality.
A driving soundtrack, created in collaboration with Bunny G and Kurei, anchors the visuals. Leahy shared, “The track was the backbone of the entire piece. I broke it down technically, where’s the big drop, what repeats, and tried to sync the visuals to capture what that feels like when you’re in the club.”
Mentored by veteran animator Michael Patterson (Take On Me), Leahy leaned into both texture and instinct to bring Feral to life. The result is not a film that offers easy answers, but rather what Leahy calls “a vibe”, a fleeting sensation of 3 AM exhilaration on a crowded dance floor where fear and freedom coexist.
Feral screens October 5th at 7 PM as part of the Hollywood Queer Shorts Film Festival, where The Hollywood Times is proud to serve as a media partner.
View more of our conversation with the director, here:
