In the middle of a traffic jam, Emile and his father Francois are having an argument
because Emile didn’t want to come and they’re late because of him. Eventually Emile gets tired of his
father’s scolding and leaves the car, so Francois goes after him. At that moment they notice an
ambulance shaking while something screams inside before the windows break. Francois immediately
drags Emile into hiding as the ambulance’s doors are pushed open and a creature half bird half man
comes out, landing on top of a car. Security officers rush to recapture the mutant, who
struggles and yells at them, scaring everyone on the road. The mutant manages to throw the officers
away from him and then runs away. Sometime later, Emile and Francois arrive at the hospital to see
the doctor who is treating Emile’s mother Lana, who is also mutating into an animal. It turns out
that for the last two years, many people all over the country have suddenly started mutating into
more animalistic forms, and most of the time they end up being very violent. Authorities are trying
their best to catch them all and keep them in specialized institutions, where the mutants are
kept calm with sedatives while they’re studied, hoping to find a cure. Most people are scared of
the mutants and want them to be locked up. Emile doesn’t want to see his mother because he’s become
wary of her since she accidentally scratched his face, but Francois insists she’s still family. The
doctor explains a new and more advanced reception center has opened in the south and Lana should
be transferred there, which Francois quickly accepts. He wants to move there with Emile so
they can start a new life, away from the judgment of people who already knew Lana. When they enter
Lana’s room, Emile notices all the scratches on the walls and doesn’t go too close. Francois
does sit with her and talks to her believing it helps, but Emile doesn’t think she can understand
anything they say. Some weeks later, Emile, Francois, and their dog move to their new home
by the forest. Soon Emile starts going to school and when the teacher introduces him to the class,
Nina asks too many questions. Emile decides to lie and says his mother is dead before explaining his
scar was caused by lightning. Later that night, a huge storm strikes the town. The power goes out,
and Emile is woken up by the noise caused by the wind and the lightning. He goes to check the
window and is startled by a creature looking into the house, but as soon as Francois brings back the
power, the creature is gone. The next day, they receive an emergency call and rush to the local
lake, where the police and the firemen have closed up the area. It turns out the storm has caused an
ambulance to get off the road and crash into the lake, and when they see a cop retrieving
the body of a creature, Francois fears the worst. This was the ambulance that was transporting all
the mutants to the new center, and now half of them are dead while others have escaped.
The cops hold down a desperate Francois as he yells for his wife, but officer Julia assures
him they haven’t found Lana’s body so she must be somewhere in the forest. Once they return home,
Francois starts hanging some of their clothes on the trees around the house, hoping the smell will
guide Lana to them. The next day during class, the gym teacher sends the class to play tug of war,
and Emile’s whole team immediately falls to the ground except for him. Surprisingly he’s capable
of pulling alone long enough for his teammates to rejoin him and win the match. Afterward everyone
is impressed by Emile’s strength and invites him to a party. However Emile is too busy inspecting
his fingers and rushes back to his house, where he uses some tweezers to pull something from under
his nails as he screams in pain. He’s shocked to discover some small claws, meaning he’s slowly
starting to mutate as well. Then he checks his back in the mirror and notices the shape of his
column is changing too. Furious, he throws things around the bathroom before getting in the tub to
wash away the shame. His dog gets in the tub with him to comfort him. Meanwhile Francois goes to the
mail and bumps into Julia, who informs him they aren’t searching anymore because the government
promised to send the military. Suddenly they hear some screaming because the customers saw
a mutant. Julia orders her teammates to evacuate the mall, but Francois searches for the mutant to
check if it’s Lana. The creature turns out to be a squid mutant that only wants some fish to eat,
and when she notices she’s been found, she throws a box of shrimp at them before running away. She
continues to throw random food at Julia as she chases after her, but this isn’t enough to stop a
trained officer, so Julia jumps on her to capture her. Francois looks under some grocery display
and finds another mutant looking terribly scared, but he decides not to tell the cops. The following
Friday, Emile goes to the party and has lots of fun. His classmates admire the swords brought
by a guy who will be making a presentation at the upcoming midsummer festival. Suddenly the alcohol
starts making Emile feel sick and he falls off his seat. Nina hands him some medicine and Emile
can’t stop his body from licking her hand to pick it up, causing the others to freak out. Ashamed
and embarrassed, Emile escapes through the forest, hearing the noises made by other mutants. The next
morning, Emile wakes up near the lake when he hears the noise made by a motorboat passing by.
He finds blood in his mouth and immediately spits before leaving, seeing anti-mutant graffiti on his
way home. At his house, he rushes to the bathroom and throws up a feather, which makes him realize
he ate a bird last night. Afterward, Francois and Emile ignore the barriers left by the cops and
go to the forest to search for Lana. Emile asks his dad how he felt when Lana started to change,
and Francois explains he was never scared. She was still his wife, just a little different.
When night falls, they continue the search on the car, screaming through the windows while playing
Lana’s favorite song at full volume. They end up spending the night in the car and in the morning,
Emile notices his nails are changing again. Suddenly his dog runs away and Emile follows him,
only to discover a chameleon child on a tree. At that moment the bird man from the beginning
tackles Emile to the ground and starts hitting him with his wings while his claws hurt his shoulder,
making it bleed. However the man freezes when he looks into Emile’s eyes and realizes he’s a mutant
too. Emile’s screaming makes Francois run to his son, grabbing him by the arm while asking the bird
man to stay away. Once they’re back in the car, Francois announces they’re going to the hospital,
but Emile refuses because they’ll discover the truth. Their argument causes them to almost crash
against a horse, but Francois stops the car just in time and they notice they’ve arrived
at the riding school. The cops are around and Julia explains a mutant attacked the horses,
so Francois uses the chance to ask for a favor. An army nurse ends up giving Emile the stitches
he needs and believes the story that the dog bit his shoulder. Later at home, Emile removes
some of the stitching and starts licking the dripping wound. Sometime later during lab class,
Emile notices that Nina has a necklace with a feather like the one he puked and freaks out,
but Nina immediately calls him out on it. Then he can’t concentrate because he’s distracted by
the ferrets squeaking in their cage. Eventually he snaps and yells at them, telling them to shut up.
After class, Emile has trouble riding his bike because of his body changes and Nina tries her
best to stay supportive, even inviting Emila to hang out at her house. While preparing a snack,
Emile opens the fridge and finds a dead bird, so Nina explains she found it at her door after the
party and took its feather for the necklace. Emile realizes he didn’t eat it, he left it for her as
a gift. Nina is keeping it because she’ll donate it as food for the mutants. Afterward Emile gets
in the lake and catches a fish with his own hands, which is seen by a neighbor. Then he looks for the
bird man, who is trying to fly and keeps falling on the ground over and over. Emile leaves the fish
for him and learns that he’s called himself Fix because he can’t remember his real name. Seeing
Fix’s wounds from his failed flights, Emile points out there’s a safer spot to practice and takes Fix
to the lake. After Emile removes all the branches from the water to avoid more injuries, Fix agrees
to practice there. In the evening, Emile tries to ride his bike home but he keeps falling,
so he decides to leave it in the forest and tell his dad that it was stolen. Meanwhile at the bar
Francois is working at, he discovers the owner has made anti-mutant t-shirts, which makes him very
uncomfortable. Then he takes out the trash and hears some noises in the backyard when he suddenly
gets grabbed by a mutant, who pushes Francois to the ground. Noticing the creature is in chains,
Francois tries to calm it down peacefully, only to see a second mutant running away. At that moment a
coworker pushes the creature back with an oar, revealing the mutant is a relative of hers and
she’s been hiding it at work. She and Francois try to guide the creature back into hiding,
but the mutant freaks out and rushes to the front of the bar, causing everyone to run
in panic. Believing the other creature could’ve been Lana, Francois runs to the forest and finds
his wife in full bear form, who makes a noise at him before leaving. Later during lunch at school,
Emile feels something in his mouth and suddenly spits out a tooth. The others are grossed out so
he pretends it was a baby tooth. In the afternoon he visits Fix, who keeps falling into the water
over and over while trying to learn to fly. When Fix takes a break, Emile looks at his injuries and
removes the bandage on his face, discovering that the doctors had done a horrible surgery
job to remove the growing beak. In the evening, Julia goes with Francois to the forest to help him
search for Lana, and they have to hide every time they see a police car pass by. In the end they
don’t find any creature, but Francois is shocked to find Emile’s bicycle. When he returns home,
Francois discovers the bathroom sink is clogged so he removes the pipe to empty it. Inside he finds
lots of hair and some claws, which finally makes him realize Emile’s also changing. Once Emile
comes home too, Francois shows him the claws and the bike, but Emile denies everything. Francois
has locked up the house and refuses to let him in until he confesses, so Emile tries to run away. A
desperate Francois runs after him and tackles him to the ground, hugging Emile tightly as
he has a breakdown. The next morning, Emile eats directly from his plate instead of using a fork,
but Francois stays supportive. He also shares some of Lana’s medicine so Emile can control his
impulses while he’s in class. Then Francois checks Emile’s mouth and confirms the fangs are at the
back for now, so others won’t see them. He reminds his son to cut his nails every day and puts some
cotton in his ears before covering them with hair, that way his enhanced hearing won’t be overwhelmed
by noises. Lastly, Francois shows Emile how to use a hair removal cream on his body. Later that day,
Emile chats with Nina on the phone while taking a walk outside the house. He asks Nina to scream and
when she does, he’s happy to discover he can hear her all the way from there. The next day, Emile
visits Fix and discovers he can’t talk anymore, he can only make bird sounds. After Emile hugs him,
Fix climbs up a tree and then jumps, revealing he’s finally able to fly and greatly enjoys
doing it. Afterward Emile goes to the festival, where his father is working. Francois is furious
to see him because Emile should be hiding, and an argument ensues that quickly escalates into
physical aggression. Emile growls as he bites his dad on the shoulder, not letting go until Francois
threatens him with scissors. Upset and confused, Emile walks away and bumps into Nina, who invites
him to take a walk through the cornfields. The teens end up kissing and things quickly heat up,
so they lie down to get dirty. When Emile removes his shirt, Nina discovers the hair
and the changed spine, but she says she knew it and keeps going anyway. Then they return to the
festival and Emile goes to the bathroom, where he’s cornered by a classmate who saw him and Nina
on the field. The guy makes a noise with a little machine that only animals are supposed to hear,
which immediately hurts Emile’s ears. Scared, Emile attacks the boy, leaving scratch marks
on his face. Emile immediately runs to hide in the field while the boy alerts all the locals,
causing them to grab their weapons and call the police. Soon a dog finds him,
but Emile scares him away with a bark. Seeing the dog run, two men open fire in the direction,
and the alarm starts going off. Emile runs as fast as he can as a bunch of people chase after him,
and when a guy is about to shoot him, Fix flies in and pushes the guy away, killing him with his
claws. Then Fix flies into the forest so Emile can follow him. A police car chases after them
too and Emile crosses the lake to stop them, but the frustrated men open fire from across the water
and sadly hit Fix. Emile immediately rushes to his friend’s side and cries as Fix dies in his arms.
Minutes later, Francois and the hunters find Fix’s body but no Emile in sight. Meanwhile in town,
a large mutant is sneaking around while the army trucks make their way to the forest. The next day,
Emile stays hidden in the forest eating any fruit he can find. In the evening, he climbs a tree and
joins the chorus of nocturnal creatures with his own howling. The following night, a storm
hits the area so Emile hides inside a cave. He gets scared when he’s approached by a bear,
only to realize this is his mother. They bump their foreheads together to acknowledge their love
for each other then Lana leaves, wanting her son to follow her. Emile does so and discovers tons of
mutants living together in harmony, including the chameleon girl. At that moment he sees flares shot
through the sky, meaning the army has found them. Emile and the other mutants try to run and hide,
but the soldiers are using the painful sound so the creatures can’t do anything other than drop
on the ground in pain and be captured. The only one that escapes is the chameleon girl,
who uses camouflage to hide. Later at the police station, Francois helps Emile declare he had
been drunk and ended up in the forest by mistake. However when Emile has to sign the release papers,
his hand can’t grab the pen and breaks the sheet. When the cop gives him a new one, Emile can’t help
growling at him, so Francois immediately pushes the cop to knock him down before he could raise
the alarm. The officer hits his head and passes out while Francois seals the document himself,
then he quickly shows it to the receptionist and successfully leaves with Emile. Afterward they
get in the car to leave town. Soon the police start chasing them, but Francois promises Emile
he won’t go to any institution and drives as fast as possible, going through a fence to
reach the forest. Then Francois tells his son to run, and Emile does so as he howls in happiness.