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American Animals

Play trailer 1:53 Poster for American Animals R 2018 1h 56m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 213 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk and Chas Allen are four friends who live an ordinary existence in Kentucky. After a visit to Transylvania University, Lipka comes up with the idea to steal the rarest and most valuable books from the school's library. As one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history starts to unfold, the men question whether their attempts to inject excitement and purpose into their lives are simply misguided attempts at achieving the American dream.
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American Animals

American Animals

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Critics Consensus

American Animals tangles with a number of weighty themes, but never at the expense of delivering a queasily compelling true crime thriller.

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Critics Reviews

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Wenlei Ma News.com.au 10/05/2018
4.5/5
American Animals is a different kind of movie, a truly electrifying story with purpose and meaning but one that has also given us a new form of storytelling. Go to Full Review
Paul Byrnes Sydney Morning Herald 10/04/2018
4/5
It's a clever movie, but not too clever. It's also thoughtful and engrossing, weird as hell. And it's true - or truer than most films that claim that label. Go to Full Review
David Stratton The Australian 09/28/2018
4/5
American Animals, like the young thieves whose story it tells, seeks inspiration from classic movies, but it transcends this foundation in a probing look at the arrogance and inexperience of its protagonists... Go to Full Review
James Profetto Reel James (YouTube) 2d
7/10
You have to have your mind open to [this being] not just another generic heist movie. So, 'American Animals' really does succeed in that regard! Go to Full Review
Guillermo Troncoso Screen Realm Oct 24
4/5
Despite flirting with overlength by the time the credits roll, American Animals is a deft, highly entertaining blend of heist film and documentary. Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film 08/07/2024
A
American Animals is one of the most unique experiences of 2018 so far. Perhaps its editing and tonal shifts will be too cumbersome for some audiences, but for me, there’s a lot of profound layers to Layton’s direction. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Mary F @RT70986907 4d So I'm sitting here watching this thing, asking... WHY? These young men had everything... loving, financially stable homes; access to the best educations; and great health. Out of boredom, they not only committed this awful crime, but Hollywood actually made an overlong movie about it... a movie they also appear in (in the documentary part). If this doesn't reek of the ultimate in white male privilege, I don't know what does. The message of the film is that white guys can do something as fundamentally wrong as this and actually be celebrated for it. And yes, a film made about you is a celebration. They didn't get paid for their story, but they did get paid for their time. Neither they nor their story warranted a film, which received all kinds of accolades. The upshot? They solved their boredom problem to great success, didn't they? I'm done with this POS. Anyone involved in this film should be ashamed. Only in America would this BS get made. See more Tim A. @TimmyTaco Jun 3 Had no expectations but really liked this movie. Really good job of weaving the story and acting in with commentary from the actual people involved. Also the actors played their parts really well. It was both really entertaining and really well done. See more Sal D. @JustTheLaw May 25 I greatly appreciated the duality of the real life narratives however competing with the rendition of events played by actors. This made the film compelling. What the movie lacked and left it short of 4 stars was more insights other than short hand of the motivations of each of the four lead characters. Sure money is a motivator but unless withheld, none had prior records of theft so it wasn’t simply a windfall score. See more Alain E @AlainE May 22 Not very absorbing overall. The use of interpolated segments featuring the actual perpetrators during the course of the narrative is ineffective and breaks the cadence. The end vignettes are much stronger. On Prime. See more Steven F. @SteveGotScored Feb 19 One of the most exciting movies ever! See more Dwayne W @Dwayneee Nov 30 American Animals is one of the most unique experiences of 2018 so far. Perhaps its editing and tonal shifts will be too cumbersome for some audiences, but for me, there’s a lot of profound layers to Layton’s direction. See more Read all reviews
American Animals

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American Animals

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Movie Info

Synopsis Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk and Chas Allen are four friends who live an ordinary existence in Kentucky. After a visit to Transylvania University, Lipka comes up with the idea to steal the rarest and most valuable books from the school's library. As one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history starts to unfold, the men question whether their attempts to inject excitement and purpose into their lives are simply misguided attempts at achieving the American dream.
Director
Bart Layton
Producer
Derrin Schlesinger, Katherine Butler, Dimitri Doganis, Mary Jane Skalski
Screenwriter
Bart Layton
Distributor
The Orchard
Production Co
Lava Bear Films, Raw
Rating
R (Language Throughout|Brief Crude/Sexual Material|Some Drug Use)
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 1, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 14, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.9M
Runtime
1h 56m