American Animals

  • Rated R
  • 1hr 56m
  •  (42)
  • 68

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Videos & Photos

  • Official Trailer
  • Trailer 1

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Bart Layton

Producer:

Daniel Battsek, Len Blavatnik, Katherine Butler

Release Date:

Jun 1, 2018

Runtime:

1hr 56m

Synopsis

Part true crime documentary, part breezy heist film, American Animals defies expectations at every turn. The premise is deceptively simple: four young men decide to shake up their existence by stealing millions of dollars worth of rare books from their college library. It’s the kind of bold low stakes/high reward plan they’ve seen in countless glossy and fun flicks. Only this crime really did happen… and it didn’t go down the way it does in the movies. Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, and Jared Abrahamson star as the young men in question, though director Bart Layton has mixed in interview footage with their real-life counterparts and other figures from the case. The result is a meditation on memory, consequences, friendship, and those lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

Cast

  • Spencer Reinhard
  • Warren Lipka
  • Eric Borsuk
  • Chas Allen
  • Betty Jean Gooch
  • Evan Peters
  • Blake Jenner
  • Barry Keoghan
  • Jared Abrahamson
  • Eddie King

Atom User Reviews

 4.4 out of 5
23
13
6
0
0
POPULAR TAGS
#truestory
#surprising
#original
#intense
#indiehit
#mustsee
#seeingitagain
#heartpounding
#great
#greatcast
#smart
#clever
#slow
#inspiring
#hilarious
#familyfriendly
#epic
Verified Review
#slow

I like the fact this was a true story. I just felt the movie dragged on. I would have liked it better at 1:30.

1 of 1 helpful votes
RM
Rick M
Verified Review
#blockbuster
#actionpacked

A movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, even if you know the story - a must-see!

MM
Melody M
Read all 42 customer reviews

Metacritic

68
metacritic
Based on 40 Critics
7.7

USER SCORE (117)

Generally favorable reviews based on 117 Reviews
75

For all its mode-bending gamesmanship, American Animals is ultimately a fairly straightforward heist movie, albeit a stylish and engaging one.

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Metacritic review by A.A. Dowd
A.A. Dowd
The A.V. Club
90

Both as a writer and director, Layton delivers the dramatic goods here with the skill of a pro at the top of his game while adding the rueful perspective of time's reassessment of youthful indiscretions; this has to rate among the most accomplished and fully realized big-screen debuts of recent times.

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Metacritic review by Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
The Hollywood Reporter
58

American Animals is fiercely entertaining from start to finish, even when its characters are acting so dumb that you start to suspect they still have some more evolving to do.

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David Ehrlich
IndieWire
See All Critic Reviews on Metacritic.com