Pets In Pots

With a score that could have been plucked straight from a Harry Potter film and its set up of a rat running about through some bottles, the beginning of Pets In Pots has a magical, slightly fabulous air. But far from being a documentary about witches and warlocks or mythical creatures this is the story of one little girl, Marth, who loves her collection of animals - both alive and dead.

In fact, she has such a connection to them - or, as we come to learn, an unwillingness to let them go - that when they go to the petshop in the sky they also go into a bottle of alcohol for preservation's sake. "It seems such a waste to throw such a beautiful creature away," says Marth, holding up one of her bottled menagerie that, if we're honest, has seen better days.

Although all of this might sound grotesque - and the look of the animals floating in jars is a touch 'curiosity shop' - Simonka de Jong's film is not about demonising Marth or mocking her, rather it is concerned with showing how she comes to have formed these sorts of emotional attachments. As the film progresses we learn that, in many ways, her pets in pots are a constant in a life that has seen its share of loss. Others "say it's scary, sad and creepy," says Marth, yet we come to see that in the face of family turmoil, it's also perfectly understandable.

This is a sensitively made documentary, with top-notch production values, which isn't afraid to challenge the preconceptions of the audience.