Evan Peters (X-Men: Apocalypse) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer's Barry Keoghan star in this true story heist thriller, told in part by the actual men who committed the crime. Nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize. From the director of 2012's The Imposter.
Four university students (Peters, Keoghan, Blake Jenner, and Jared Abrahamson) living an ordinary existence brazenly attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in US history. But not everything is as it seems, and as the daring theft unfolds through each of their perspectives, each of them starts to question whether their attempts to inject excitement and purpose into their lives is simply a misguided attempt at achieving the American Dream.
It’s difficult to describe the second film by writer/director Bart (The Imposter) Layton without making it sound a) like a lot of other films, or b) shit. It’s Man On Wire meets Fight Club; Ocean’s Eleven via American Honey; Tarantino with teens. See?
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The answer to the question “what is the difference between a narrative feature film and a documentary” might ordinarily seem rather elementary. But British director Bart Layton, following up his intensely gripping 2012 doco-thriller The Imposter, shrewdly complicates matters in the fascinating American Animals, recounting an idiotic heist attempted by a handful of Transylvania University students in 2003. Is this a documentary with narrative elements, or a narrative feature that incorporates documentary?
Full reviewA riveting college-boy crime caper that tiggers along on pure movie-movie adrenaline, before U-turning into a sobering reflection on young male privilege and entitlement.
Full reviewThere is something soulless and mechanical about "American Animals," as if it had been made by a Martin Scorsese smartphone app and scored to a Spotify classic rock playlist.
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All in all, American Animals is at once a stylish thriller and an insightful documentary.
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A supremely-crafted doc/fiction hybrid which is genuinely innovative, pleasingly entertaining and deliciously more than the sum of its parts.
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The holes in the script are a pesky issue, but filmmaker Bart Layton's blend of recreations and real-life participants commenting on the action gives this true-crime comedy an edge.
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What initially appears to be a slight, if entertaining, true-crime heist romp, in fact, hides untold depths in a muscular offering from The Imposter director Bart Layton.
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While the participants in "American Animals" only imagine they're different, the film about them is the real deal.
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The heist genre is one that's been done to death, but with American Animals, filmmaker Bart Layton manages to pull off something wholly unique.
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