Certificate TBC
Duration 116 mins
Film starts approximately 21.00
DJ from 18.45: EUPHONICA ft DAN SAVIDGE
A group of four students come together in classic heist movie fashion (think Reservoir Dogs, because that's what they do) to steal some of the world's rarest books from the special collections room of their college library. Quite why they decided to do this, or why they these juvenile amateur criminals thought they were capable of pulling it off, are just some of the deeper currents that run through this irrepressible thriller that may ostensibly conform to crime film conventions but has a way of telling a story that is very much all its own.
American Animals asserts both that “This is” and “This is Not Based on a True Story” right from the opening titles, making it very clear that doubt is going to play a very big part in what's to come. Credit writer-director Bart Layton with the high-wire narrative risks, his skill as a documentarian providing an unexpected extra level to the film that really increases its emotional power.
What really gives the action its zest and freshness are the performances from the four young leads – mischievous looking star Evan Peters (Quicksilver in the X-Men franchise and a series regular in American Horror Story), the wonderful Irish actor Barry Keoghan (unforgettable in both Dunkirk and The Killing of a Sacred Deer), Blake Jenner (Supergirl and The Edge of Seventeen) and Jared Abrahamson. Each member of the group is distinctive in their own right, but the best scenes are when they come together as a perfectly imperfect gang of thieves. What you see on-screen may or may not be true, but one thing is for sure - our Closing Night Premiere is a modern masterpiece.
