American Animals

AMERICAN ANIMALS (15)

D: Bart Layton

STX/AI/Film4/Raw/Lava Bear (Derrin Schlesinger, Katherine Butler, Dimitri Doganis & Mary Jane Skalski)

USA/UK 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 2018

116 mins

Crime/Drama/Comedy

W: Bart Layton

DP: Ole Bratt Birkeland

Ed: Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, Luke Dunkley & Julian Dart

Mus: Anne Nikitin

Evan Peters (Warren Lipka), Barry Keoghan (Spencer Reinhard), Blake Jenner (Chas Allen), Jared Abrahamson (Eric Borsuk), Udo Kier (Mr. Van Der Hoek)

This is not based on a true story, this is a true story. Or so we're told, as this film uncovers a real life amateur heist perpetrated by a group of university students, who planned a robbery of their campus library, home to valuable artwork and priceless first edition books.

American Animals has a narrative which is served incredibly well by excellent film editing, using interview footage with the real-life counterparts as the crime is being planned, as the script also pays homage to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. while all the performances are well acted by the cast of young men.

The 2018 release went under the radar somewhat during its cinema run, but is certainly worth a catch through home media.

8/10