{{Short description|2018 UK/US heist film}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox film | name = American Animals | image = American Animals.png | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Bart Layton | producer = {{Plainlist| * Derrin Schlesinger * Katherine Butler * Dimitri Doganis * Mary Jane Skalski }} | writer = Bart Layton | starring = {{Plainlist| * Evan Peters * Barry Keoghan * Blake Jenner * Jared Abrahamson * Udo Kier * Ann Dowd }} | music = Anne Nikitin | cinematography = Ole Bratt Birkeland | editing = {{Plainlist| * Nick Fenton * Chris Gill * Julian Hart }} | production_companies = {{Plainlist| * AI Film * Film4 Productions * RAW * Lava Bear Films }} | distributor = {{Plainlist| * The Orchard * MoviePass Ventures (United States) * STXinternational (United Kingdom) }} | released = {{film date|2018|1|19|Sundance|2018|6|1|United States|2018|9|7|United Kingdom}} | runtime = 116 minutes<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sundance.org/projects/american-animals|title=American Animals|work=Sundance Film Festival|publisher=The Sundance Institute|access-date=December 13, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127044604/https://www.sundance.org/projects/american-animals#/ |archive-date=2018-01-27}}</ref> | country = {{ubl|United Kingdom|United States<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/american-animals-review-1202669037/|last=Lodge|first=Guy|publisher=Penske Business Media|title=Film Review: 'American Animals'|date=January 19, 2018|accessdate=August 18, 2018|work=Variety|archive-date=July 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714151323/https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/american-animals-review-1202669037/|url-status=live}}</ref>}} | language = English | budget = | gross = $4.1 million<ref name="BOM">{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt6212478/ |title=''American Animals'' (2018) |publisher=Box Office Mojo |accessdate=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625050424/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt6212478/ |url-status=live }}</ref> }} '''''American Animals''''' is a 2018 docudrama heist film written and directed by Bart Layton. Starring Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, and Ann Dowd, it is an account of the Transylvania University book heist in Lexington, Kentucky in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/the-real-life-heist-caper-behind-american-animals.html|title=The Real-life Heist Caper Behind American Animals|first=Chris|last=Lee|publisher=New York Media|work=Vulture|date=June 1, 2018|accessdate=June 22, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408165320/https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/the-real-life-heist-caper-behind-american-animals.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The film cuts between interview segments of the real-life people involved in the heist and actors playing out the same events.
''American Animals'' premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018. The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 1, 2018, by The Orchard and MoviePass Ventures.<ref name="Sundance">{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/sundance-film-festival-2018-lineup-program-1202625522/|title=Sundance Film Festival Unveils Full 2018 Features Lineup|last=Debruge|first=Peter|date=November 29, 2017|work=Variety|publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=November 29, 2017|archive-date=December 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211170052/http://variety.com/2017/film/news/sundance-film-festival-2018-lineup-program-1202625522/|url-status=live}}</ref> Among other awards the film won the Junior Jury Award at The Montclair Film Festival. It received generally favorable reviews from critics, particularly for its screenplay, acting, use of unreliable narrators, and an unconventional storytelling structure that fused real-life characters and actors representing those characters.
==Plot== Spencer Reinhard, an art student seeking excitement or tragedy for inspiration, is given a tour of Transylvania University library's rare-book collection; his eye is drawn to a rare first edition of John James Audubon's ''Birds of America''. He and his friend Warren Lipka, a rebellious student on an athletic scholarship at the University of Kentucky, discuss the possibility of stealing it and other rare books.<ref>Scott, A. O., [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/movies/american-animals-review.html "In ‘American Animals,’ These Guys Didn’t Visit the Library to Study"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613005556/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/movies/american-animals-review.html |date=June 13, 2020 }}, ''The New York Times'', May 30, 2018.</ref> They note that the collection is guarded by only one librarian, whom they believe they could easily overpower before stealing the books and escaping via the staff elevator. Warren travels to Amsterdam to meet black-market buyers who express interest, informing Spencer they could make millions. They later enlist the help of two friends: Eric Borsuk to provide logistics and Chas Allen as the getaway driver.
They make an appointment for a private viewing of the collection in order to gain access to the room, and arrive disguised as elderly businessmen; but they abort the heist when Warren sees multiple librarians in the room. Spencer wants to abandon the plan, but Warren persuades him and the others to try again the next day. Spencer acts as a lookout as Warren and Eric, without disguises, enter the library. Warren clumsily uses a stun gun on the librarian, making Eric help restrain her. They blunder to the exit, dropping ''The Birds of America'', but escape with two books.
The group travels to Christie's auction house in New York to get the authentication of value Warren said the Dutch buyers required. Spencer is told he has to return the next day and leaves his cell phone number with an assistant. Chas berates Spencer for using a phone number that can be identified as his, and they return to Lexington with the books. Shortly after, Spencer realizes the police will also be able to trace the email address they used to make the appointments with Christie's and the library; the FBI eventually does, and they are arrested.
In documentary interviews with the real-life thieves filmed years after they are released from prison, they express regret. Spencer suspects Warren lied about going to Amsterdam in order to convince the others to partake in the heist. Eric and Chas now live in California as a writer and a fitness coach, respectively; Warren studies filmmaking in Philadelphia; and Spencer lives in Lexington as an artist.
==Cast== * Evan Peters as Warren Lipka * Barry Keoghan as Spencer Reinhard * Blake Jenner as Chas Allen III * Jared Abrahamson as Eric Borsuk * Udo Kier as Mr. Van Der Hoek * Ann Dowd as Betty Jean Gooch
Warren Lipka, Spencer Reinhard, Chas Allen, Eric Borsuk and Betty Jean Gooch all appear as themselves, along with Reinhard's parents, Allen's mother, Lipka's father, and one of the culprits' teachers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lodge|first1=Guy|title=Sundance Film Review: 'American Animals'|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/american-animals-review-1202669037/|accessdate=January 28, 2018|work=Variety|publisher=Penske Business Media|date=January 19, 2018|archive-date=July 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714151323/https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/american-animals-review-1202669037/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Additionally, Gary Basaraba and Lara Grice portray Warren's parents, Jane McNeill portrays Spencer's mother, and Whitney Goin portrays Chas's mother. Wayne Duvall appears as Coach Bill Welton.
==Production== Filming began in Charlotte, North Carolina, in February 2017. Many of the scenes were filmed on campus at Davidson College.<ref>{{cite web |last=Janes |first=Théoden |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/theoden-janes/article136257423.html |title=About that movie being shot in Charlotte right now... |work=The Charlotte Observer |date=March 3, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2017 |archive-date=October 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008180702/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/theoden-janes/article136257423.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://clture.org/american-animals-movie-charlotte/ |title=Indie film "American Animals" starring Evan Peters and Blake Jenner being shot in Charlotte |work=CLTure |date=February 15, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2017 |last=Lee |first=Cameron |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804195050/https://clture.org/american-animals-movie-charlotte/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Robert |last=Mitchell |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/blake-jenner-set-for-bart-laytons-american-animals-1201982884/ |title=Blake Jenner, Four Others Join Evan Peters in Indie Heist Film 'American Animals' |work=Variety |publisher=Penske Business Media |date=February 9, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2017 |archive-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630155422/https://variety.com/2017/film/news/blake-jenner-set-for-bart-laytons-american-animals-1201982884/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2016/11/evan-peters-bart-layton-american-animals-nick-meyer-len-blavatnik-the-imposter-1201846297/|title=Evan Peters To Star In Bart Layton's Heist Pic 'American Animals'|last=Lodderhose|first=Diana|date=November 1, 2016|work=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=July 21, 2017|archive-date=June 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604101020/https://deadline.com/2016/11/evan-peters-bart-layton-american-animals-nick-meyer-len-blavatnik-the-imposter-1201846297/|url-status=live}}</ref> The title comes from Eric Borsuk's memoir, which derives its name from a passage in ''On the Origin of Species'', one of the books stolen by the gang, about animals dwelling in the cave systems of Kentucky;<ref name="Barrett2016">{{cite book|author=Paul H Barrett|title=The Works of Charles Darwin: Vol 15: On the Origin of Species, (First Edition, 1859)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgY3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA100|date=23 May 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-315-47704-6|page=100|access-date=July 6, 2018|archive-date=September 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906181602/https://books.google.com/books?id=RgY3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA100|url-status=live}}</ref> this quote is featured at the beginning of the film.
The film blurs elements of fiction and documentary, with the real-life versions of people depicted occasionally appearing alongside the actors in scripted scenes, and different versions of the same scene shown to reflect different accounts of events by the participants.
==Soundtrack== The score and themes were composed by Anne Nikitin. Other songs include:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/user/g0u1d1e1/playlist/6GoVBafIKPiw8qpur6UPzZ|accessdate=June 29, 2018|publisher=Spotify|title=American Animals Soundtrack|archive-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625021544/https://open.spotify.com/user/g0u1d1e1/playlist/6GoVBafIKPiw8qpur6UPzZ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tunefind.com/movie/american-animals-2018|title=American Animals Soundtrack|accessdate=June 29, 2018|publisher=TuneFind|archive-date=August 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811003657/https://www.tunefind.com/movie/american-animals-2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Devil In Me - 22-20s * Sound of da Police - KRS-One * Free Animal - Foreign Air * In Cold Blood - Alt-J Baauer remix * Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan * A Little Less Conversation - JXL Radio Edit Remix * Breathe and Stop - Q-Tip * Red Balloon - Tim Hardin * Bullet in the Head - Rage Against the Machine * Definition - Black Star * D.R.E.A.M. - Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli * What It's Worth - Black Milk * Ms. Fat Booty - Mos Def * Here Come the Nice - Small Faces * Carbona Not Glue – The Ramones * Runnin' - The Pharcyde * NY State of Mind - Nas * Are You Satisfied? - Reignwolf * Shook Ones (Part II) - Mobb Deep * It Was a Good Day - Ice Cube * They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) - Pete Rock * When I B On tha Mic - Rakim * Shark Fin Blues - The Drones * Vitamin C - Can * New York Groove - Ace Frehley * Peace Frog - The Doors * I'm Alive - Johnny Thunder * Who By Fire - Leonard Cohen * Crucify Your Mind - Rodriguez
==Release== It premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018.<ref name="Sundance" /> The film's distribution rights were purchased by The Orchard and MoviePass Ventures for US$3 million. It was released on June 1, 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2018/02/moviepass-american-animals-the-orchard-1202288609/ |title=The Orchard & MoviePass Ventures To Unleash Sundance Acquisition 'American Animals' This Summer |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=February 14, 2018 |work=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media |access-date=February 14, 2018 |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401042732/https://deadline.com/2018/02/moviepass-american-animals-the-orchard-1202288609/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lang |first1=Brent |title=Sundance: MoviePass, The Orchard Buy 'American Animals' |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/markets-festivals/sundance-moviepass-the-orchard-buy-american-animals-1202675489/ |accessdate=January 28, 2018 |work=Variety |date=January 24, 2018 |publisher=Penske Business Media |archive-date=August 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822001704/https://variety.com/2018/film/markets-festivals/sundance-moviepass-the-orchard-buy-american-animals-1202675489/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Box office=== In its opening weekend the film made US$140,629 from four theaters (an average of US$35,157), finishing 24th.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/06/shailene-woodley-adrift-solo-star-wars-story-action-point-weekend-box-office-1202401740/ |title='Solo' Hits Asteroid With $29M-$30M; 'Action Point' Condemned To $2M+: Post-Memorial Day Blues At The B.O. |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media |date=June 3, 2018 |first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |accessdate=June 3, 2018 |archive-date=September 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919211013/https://deadline.com/2018/06/shailene-woodley-adrift-solo-star-wars-story-action-point-weekend-box-office-1202401740/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to their own reports, MoviePass members made up 25–35% of the film's opening weekend audience. Speaking about ''American Animals'', as well as MoviePass Ventures' other film ''Gotti'', one independent studio head told ''Deadline Hollywood'': "It used to be in distribution, we'd all gossip whether a studio was buying tickets to their own movie to goose their opening. But in the case of MoviePass, there's no secret: They're literally buying the tickets to their own movie!"<ref name="MPsales">{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/06/moviepass-gotti-opening-rotten-tomatoes-0-1202412227/ |title=MoviePass Reps 40% Of 'Gotti's $1.67M Opening As Critics Slaughter John Travolta Mob Pic |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media |date=June 17, 2018 |first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |accessdate=June 24, 2018 |archive-date=August 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823035934/https://deadline.com/2018/06/moviepass-gotti-opening-rotten-tomatoes-0-1202412227/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Critical response=== On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of {{RT data|score}} based on {{RT data|count}} reviews, and an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. The website's critical consensus reads, "''American Animals'' tangles with a number of weighty themes, but never at the expense of delivering a queasily compelling true crime thriller."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_animals|title=American Animals (2018)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date={{RT data|access date}}|archive-date=August 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817164525/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_animals/|url-status=live}}</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/american-animals |title=American Animals Reviews |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |accessdate=June 15, 2018 |archive-date=June 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626105939/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/american-animals |url-status=live }}</ref>
Robert Abele of ''TheWrap'' wrote that the film was "refreshing" in how it showed "the reality of bad decisions and corrosive entitlement." He thought that the film was ethical in not giving "undue attention to the fortune-seeking escapades of the already fortunate": it "wants to leave you wondering about how we tell stories, and whose we tell, rather than simply satisfied you saw one told well."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/american-animals-film-review-evan-peters-barry-keoghan/|date=May 31, 2018|first=Robert|last=Abele|title='American Animals' Film Review: Entertainingly Fizzy Heist Movie Defies Expectations|work=TheWrap|access-date=July 13, 2025}}</ref> Tom Russo of ''The Boston Globe'' liked how the film "palpably, potently conveys the group's misgivings, their jangling nerves, the foolhardy resignation pushing them on despite themselves", yet was disappointed it did not have "even more of its stylish opening symbolism."<ref>{{cite news|date=June 6, 2018|first=Tom|last=Russo|title=Audubon, Darwin, & the evolution of a heist|newspaper=The Boston Globe|quote=It feels like a bonus that the movie underscores it all through fascinating interviews with the real Reinhard, Lipka, Borsuk, and Allen, along with blindsided family members and a librarian assaulted in the robbery.}}</ref> Katie Walsh of the ''Chicago Tribune'' wrote that the film was "an Escher-esque labyrinth where documentary meets narrative filmmaking, then collides, twists and keeps climbing." She liked how it became a "dark distillation of this white, millennial, American male crisis of the self." Walsh added that "when the real Betty Jean finally gets to speak, it’s a clarion call."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2018/06/07/american-animals-review-privilege-fueled-bungled-heist-blends-reality-fiction/|date=June 7, 2018|first=Katie|last=Walsh|title='American Animals' review: Privilege-fueled bungled heist blends reality, fiction|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=July 13, 2025|archive-date=July 14, 2025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250714010454/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2018/06/07/american-animals-review-privilege-fueled-bungled-heist-blends-reality-fiction/}}</ref>
== Accolades == Layton won the Special Jury Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jim Cummings' 'Thunder Road' Takes Grand Prize at Deauville Film Festival|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jim-cummings-thunder-road-takes-grand-prize-at-deauville-film-festival-1141258/|access-date=July 14, 2025|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 8, 2018|first=Rhonda|last=Richford}}</ref> and won Best Screenplay from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Writers' Guild Awards 2019 |url=https://writersguild.org.uk/writers-guild-awards-2019/ |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=Writers' Guild of Great Britain |language=en-GB |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204131326/https://writersguild.org.uk/writers-guild-awards-2019/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At the British Independent Film Awards, ''American Animals'' won for Best Debut Screenwriter and Best Editing.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-29 |title=Winners & Nominations · BIFA · 2018 |url=https://www.bifa.film/awards/2018/winners-nominations/ |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=BIFA · British Independent Film Awards |language=en-GB |archive-date=October 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031214900/https://www.bifa.film/awards/2018/winners-nominations/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At the Montclair Film Festival, the film won the Junior Jury Award.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=MFF18 Award Winners Announced |url=https://montclairfilm.org/event-archive/congrats-to-our-mff18-award-winners/ |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=montclairfilm.org |language=en-US |archive-date=December 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201040512/https://montclairfilm.org/event-archive/congrats-to-our-mff18-award-winners/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film also received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Editing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=2018-11-16 |title=2019 Spirit Award Nominations: 'We The Animals' Tops With Five, A24 Leads All Distributors, Studio Classic Labels Come Up Short |url=https://deadline.com/2018/11/film-independent-spirit-award-nominations-fall-2018-roma-netflix-1202503233/ |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=Deadline |language=en-US |archive-date=March 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330120622/https://deadline.com/2018/11/film-independent-spirit-award-nominations-fall-2018-roma-netflix-1202503233/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|6212478|American Animals}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|american_animals}}
{{Bart Layton}}
Category:2018 crime drama films Category:2010s heist films Category:2018 films Category:American crime drama films Category:American heist films Category:British crime drama films Category:British heist films Category:Crime drama films based on actual events Category:2018 English-language films Category:Film4 Productions films Category:Films about books Category:Films about criminals Category:Films directed by Bart Layton Category:Films set in libraries Category:Films set in universities and colleges Category:Films set in 2003 Category:Films set in 2004 Category:Films set in 2005 Category:Films set in Kentucky Category:Films set in New York (state) Category:Films set in the Netherlands Category:Films shot in Charlotte, North Carolina Category:2018 independent films Category:The Orchard (company) films Category:Transylvania University Category:2018 American films Category:2018 British films Category:English-language independent films Category:English-language crime drama films