"Killing Animals" a mischievous, intimate look at teenagers in the 1990s. The world is Palo Alto, a safe and comfortable suburb in California. We follow a group of restless kids that yearn to escape to the night streets to feel powerful, to the outskirts of the city to feel adventurous. The film jumps between their innocent wide-eyed days as 12 year olds and their more alienated and disillusioned times as 16 year olds. Our main character is young Ryan Rivers, a sensitive outsider. We follow him as he grows up, through first love and first heartbreak, from playful mischief to real violence. His wayward attitude leads him to a sudden act of violence that spirals his life out of control. He must either find redemption or risk self-destruction.