American Animals

Play trailer

1:53

American Animals

R

Released Jun 1, 2018

1h 56m

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

211 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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

Wenlei Ma

News.com.au

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.

Rated: 4.5/5

Oct 5, 2018

Full Review

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

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.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 4, 2018

Full Review

David Stratton

The Australian

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...

Rated: 4/5

Sep 28, 2018

Full Review

JD Duran

InSession Film

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.

Rated: A

Aug 7, 2024

Full Review

Jason Adams

My New Plaid Pants

The harder the movie worked at reminding me of its "This is Based on a True Story" bonafides I kept watching it through Fargo-tinted "True Story" glasses

Jul 2, 2021

Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

What makes the movie good is that it is also a condemnation of same, illustrating just how quickly those worries burn off in the face of the alternative, a difficult life.

Dec 10, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Ava S

While the botched heist sequences were thoroughly entertaining, American Animals' docu-style provides only superficial insight into the rationale behind the crime and its repercussions.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/07/25

Full Review

Glen E

Shifting the docudrama balance to the latter half of the portmanteau, AMERICAN ANIMALS is well paced and inventive with the truth in a way that grips rather than grates.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/09/25

Full Review

Piy S

Brilliant cast and story told with style and heart

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/07/25

Full Review

John T

Absolutely brilliant way to tell this story

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/07/25

Full Review

Lars N

Excitingly told and engaging in a way that somehow manages to make the audience feel, even route for, the four young men even as we know, that what they're doing is reprehensible and will only lead to disaster.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/04/25

Full Review

Regina P

I enjoyed this. The story was captivating. I did not enjoy how they mixed in the interviews with the real people from the story. It didn't need to be a dramatized documentary. That could have been saved for the credits or a separate documentary. But I was truly anticipating each next step. Fascinating true story.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/24/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Bart Layton

Director

Barry Keoghan

Spencer Reinhard

Evan Peters

Warren Lipka

Jared Abrahamson

Eric Borsuk

Blake Jenner

Chas Allen II

Ann Dowd

Betty Jean Gooch

View more videos

Motherless Brooklyn

65%

80%

Motherless Brooklyn

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Motherless Brooklyn

Bad Times at the El Royale

75%

75%

Bad Times at the El Royale

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Bad Times at the El Royale

Widows

91%

61%

Widows

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Widows

City of Lies

50%

83%

City of Lies

Watchlist

TRAILER

for City of Lies

Inherit the Viper

45%

38%

Inherit the Viper

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Inherit the Viper

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Best-Reviewed Movies by Genre 2018

Fight Summer Blockbuster Fatigue with These Acclaimed Indie Movies

Adrift Gets There Eventually

American Animals: Trailer 2

1:53

American Animals: Trailer 1

2:24

View more videos

View more photos

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

Most Popular at Home Now