Already close. The wolfwalker can become a wolf, but the romantic subtext between Robyn and Mebh (the wolf-girl) suggests something deeper. Take it further: a human who falls in love with a literal wolf, not a shapeshifter. The pack accepts them. The human learns to hunt, to mark territory, to howl. That is extra quality.

Extra quality means earned. Show the human and animal saving each other’s lives repeatedly. Show seasons changing. Show the animal choosing the human over its own kind, then struggling with that choice. A 90-minute film cannot do this justice. Consider a novel or a serial.

Not a romance, but the “tiger” as a mythic, romantic figure for the deaf-mute girl. She does not want to tame him. She wants to join him. That tension — civilization versus wild love — is pure AEQR material.

In a ruined world, a human and a genetically uplifted dog, a sentient AI in a robotic bear chassis, or a surviving dinosaur must not only survive but fall in love. The romance is slow, cautious, and earned. It explores loneliness as an extinction-level event. The key extra quality element: the animal partner has agency, might leave, might sacrifice itself, and might even betray the human. Romance becomes a choice, not a convenience.