American Animals
Four privileged Kentucky students turn a rare-book theft into a reckless experiment in fame, identity, and storytelling.
Overview
A bizarre heist unfolds as college students chase glory through crime.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- queasy
- witty
- paranoid
- true crime night
- independent film night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the hybrid true-crime drama queasily compelling, stylish, and ethically alert about entitlement and the construction of criminal narratives.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film intercuts fictionalized performances by actors with interviews featuring the real participants in the library heist.
The four affluent college students pursue personal glory through theft despite having no material need to commit the crime.
Actors portray the young men while the real participants comment on and complicate the dramatized account of what happened.
The film deliberately merges true-crime interviews, stylized heist sequences, and self-conscious reflections on storytelling.
Films like American Animals, and why
I, Tonya
shares a true-crime framework, moral ambiguity, and documentary reenactment style
The Bling Ring
shares a crime story shaped by unreliable self-presentation, youthful ambition, and darkly comic tension
Good Time
shares a heist narrative, escalating anxiety, and a psychologically grounded examination of bad decisions
Movie Details
- Director
- Bart Layton
- Release Date
- 2018-06-01
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (1250)
Cast
- Evan Peters
- Barry Keoghan
- Blake Jenner
- Jared Abrahamson
- Ann Dowd
- Gary Basaraba
- Udo Kier
- Wayne Duvall
- Whitney Goin
- Lara Grice
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MUBI Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is American Animals about?
- Four privileged Kentucky students turn a rare-book theft into a reckless experiment in fame, identity, and storytelling.
- What is American Animals like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of American Animals as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is American Animals violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in American Animals as mild.
- What did critics think of American Animals?
- Critics broadly found the hybrid true-crime drama queasily compelling, stylish, and ethically alert about entitlement and the construction of criminal narratives.
- Which films are like American Animals?
- Films with a similar feel include I, Tonya, The Bling Ring, and Good Time.
- How long is American Animals?
- American Animals runs 117 minutes.
- Where can I watch American Animals?
- In United States, American Animals streams on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MUBI Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
