American Animals

American Animals

Poster for American Animals

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. More

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.

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88 ^%Rotten
tomatoes®
9 reviews
Directed by Bart Layton

2018Rating: MA15+, Strong coarse language116 minsUK, USA

CrimeDrama

Director:: Bart Layton ('The Imposter', 'Locked Up Abroad', 'Becoming Alexander')
Writer:: Bart Layton
Cast:: Evan PetersBarry KeoghanBlake JennerJared AbrahamsonAnn DowdUdo KierGary BasarabaLara Grice

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American Animals | Reviews

88%214 reviews

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Flicks, Luke Buckmaster

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?

Flicks, Matt Glasby

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?

Variety

A 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.

The New York Times

There 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.

Stuff

All in all, American Animals is at once a stylish thriller and an insightful documentary.

Screen Daily

A supremely-crafted doc/fiction hybrid which is genuinely innovative, pleasingly entertaining and deliciously more than the sum of its parts.

Rolling Stone

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.

New Zealand Herald

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.

Los Angeles Times

While the participants in "American Animals" only imagine they're different, the film about them is the real deal.

Hollywood Reporter

A crackerjack real-life heist thriller.

Collider

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.

American Animals | Trailers

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US Trailer

American Animals | Release Details

American Animals is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Apple TV and SBS On Demand and Ritz at Home and Prime Video Store.