71
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonThroughout the first half of Animals, there is a welcome amount of humor and some flashes of romantic warmth to alleviate the ever-present undercurrent of dread. As director Collin Schiffli gradually tightens the screws and builds suspense, however, the mood darkens.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeGrimy and sad but not sensationalistic, the debut feature is like Drugstore Cowboy drained of its hipness and sex appeal.
- 70Village VoiceChris PackhamVillage VoiceChris PackhamSchiffli and Dastmalchian deliver a sweet, elegiac concluding moment that offers a measure of hope without making a lot of unbelievable promises.
- 70Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAnimals may be the kind of story we've seen, but it's told in a way that makes it worth seeing again.
- 70The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottMr. Schiffli shoots in a fluid style, tweaking colors and focus to register changes in perception and feeling. Anxiety dissolves in sunshine and dreamy music, gathers up again in darker colors and more dissonant sounds and then winds up to a pitch of panic.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreDavid Dastmalchian wrote and co-stars in this generic but well-acted trip down junky lane.
- 60The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasSearching for originality in an addiction narrative like Animals is a problem, because these stories of decline and degradation tend to sound the same. So the limited time frame is the film’s strongest asset, because it’s only paying attention to the final hours.
- 58The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerIt never pushes far enough into that territory to distinguish its beautiful losers from the many addiction-movie characters that precede them.
- 50Slant MagazineCarson LundSlant MagazineCarson LundIt sticks firmly to a Kerouac-lite immersion into young love rather than a more provocative portrait of the hazards inherent to modern urban life.