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Goat

  • 2016
  • R
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
8K
YOUR RATING
Nick Jonas and Ben Schnetzer in Goat (2016)
Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old boy enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there, in the name of "brotherhood" tests the boy and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.
Play trailer2:27
2 Videos
99+ Photos
Drama

Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there in the name of "brotherhood" tests him and his loya... Read allReeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there in the name of "brotherhood" tests him and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there in the name of "brotherhood" tests him and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.

  • Director
    • Andrew Neel
  • Writers
    • David Gordon Green
    • Brad Land
    • Andrew Neel
  • Stars
    • Ben Schnetzer
    • Nick Jonas
    • Gus Halper
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.7/10
    8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Andrew Neel
    • Writers
      • David Gordon Green
      • Brad Land
      • Andrew Neel
    • Stars
      • Ben Schnetzer
      • Nick Jonas
      • Gus Halper
    • 28User reviews
    • 77Critic reviews
    • 64Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 nominations

    Videos2

    Red Band Trailer
    Trailer 1:48
    Watch Red Band Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:27
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos136

    James Franco and Nick Jonas in Goat (2016)
    Ben Schnetzer in Goat (2016)
    Nick Jonas, Danny Flaherty, and Ben Schnetzer in Goat (2016)
    Nick Jonas, Eric Staves, Tyler Beaty, and Alec Usleaman in Goat (2016)
    Danny Flaherty, Ben Schnetzer, and Austin Lyon in Goat (2016)
    Nick Jonas, Danny Flaherty, and Ben Schnetzer in Goat (2016)
    Andrew Neel, Christine Vachon, Ethan Palmer, Nick Jonas, Danny Flaherty, Ben Schnetzer, Jake Picking, Brock Yurich, Austin Lyon, and Gus Halper at an event for Goat (2016)
    Gus Halper at an event for Goat (2016)
    Austin Lyon at an event for Goat (2016)
    Andrew Neel, Nick Jonas, Ben Schnetzer, Daniel Flaherty, Jake Picking, Austin Lyon, and Gus Halper at an event for Goat (2016)
    Nick Jonas, Ben Schnetzer, Austin Lyon, and Gus Halper at an event for Goat (2016)
    Ben Schnetzer at an event for Goat (2016)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ben Schnetzer
    Ben Schnetzer
    • Brad
    Nick Jonas
    Nick Jonas
    • Brett
    Gus Halper
    Gus Halper
    • Chance
    Danny Flaherty
    Danny Flaherty
    • Will
    Virginia Gardner
    Virginia Gardner
    • Leah
    Jake Picking
    Jake Picking
    • Dixon
    Brock Yurich
    Brock Yurich
    • Wes
    Will Pullen
    Will Pullen
    • The Smile
    Austin Lyon
    Austin Lyon
    • Dave
    Eric Staves
    Eric Staves
    • Baity
    James Franco
    James Franco
    • Mitch
    Jamar Jackson
    • The Breath
    Kevin Crowley
    Kevin Crowley
    • Detective Burke
    Lauren Knutson
    • Michelle
    Jon Osbeck
    Jon Osbeck
    • Provost
    Denise Dal Vera
    Denise Dal Vera
    • Mom
    Pepper Sweeney
    Pepper Sweeney
    • Dad
    Clare Combest
    • Katie
    • Director
      • Andrew Neel
    • Writers
      • David Gordon Green
      • Brad Land
      • Andrew Neel
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Based on the true story and memoir by Brad Land.
    • Quotes

      Brett: [on Will] He had a bad heart.

    • Soundtracks
      Jack Move
      Performed by Craig Craig

      Courtesy of Format

    User reviews28

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    At times it's intolerable
    There is one review that describes GOAT as "Full Metal Jacket meets Animal House," which might be true if this movie were at all a comedy, or even a movie that examines the long-term effects of psychological abuse. There is a lot that Andrew Neel tries to say from the director's chair, but aside from a few interesting moments here and there, it seems like he may have bitten off more than he can chew.

    The story follows Brad (Ben Schnetzer), the older brother of an all-around popular college boy (Brett, played by Nick Jonas). The film opens with Brad offering a ride to a set of strangers in the dead of night. He offers only because he believes they are coming from the same party. Right away the suspicions are tingling. A 20-minute ride down a deserted road finally has Brad come to terms with his situation: that he is mugged, beaten, and left for death in the middle of a field on the outskirts of town. His face is scarred, bruised, and his ease with strangers is never the same.

    The movie is something I was not expecting, an odyssey into the mind of fear along the lines of a film Harmony Korine might admire. Where I was prepared for an dark yet entertaining film like Whiplash, we delve into the bowels of a film that more closely resembles "Spring Breakers," another hypnotic story with similar themes of the recklessness of millennials.

    As the story falls into place, Brad finally decides to start college (we assume he took a year off after high school, since his younger brother is already well into his degree). Even before classes begin, Brad attends a Fall party at Brett's fraternity. The house is run- down, jammed, full of empty plastic cups and vomit in every corner. It's not so much a symbol as a right of passage: to belong to this house is to have a brotherhood that always has your back. James Franco (a producer on the film) has a brief but memorable scene as a former classmate who seems to hang around at the house a couple hours too long. Stuck in the past, he nonetheless shows Brad that this is an institution to which you can belong and be protected.

    And so begins the odyssey. "Hell Week," as it's notoriously dubbed, is the hazing process where Brad, his roommate, and others, attempt to win the trust of the fraternity and eventually get "pinned" before the school year is out. The name is aptly given. Pledges are brought down to the basement where they are stripped, tied up, urinated on, and made to drink to the point of nausea. They drink cups of hot sauce. They are slapped. This is only day one.

    The comparison to "Full Metal Jacket" would seem appropriate on a surface level, but the film rarely dives into the psyche of Brad, a boy who is torn between fear and commitment to pleasing his brother. Just as he allowed strangers to abuse him in the film's opening, so does he (poetically) allow it to happen again, this time for acceptance. In fact, maybe the abuse comes to represent a window into the connected world. Life is full of people who come and go, but what's the true test of a friendship if you literally go to hell and back.

    The abuse, of course, is the highlight of the film, and the vivid scenes of torture are at times a bit overwhelming. We know going in that this is a movie based on actual events (events in which the death of a student was the culmination of the abuse), and as such each new scene comes with a heightened sense of dread: will this turn deadly? The violence is so relentless that I doubted I would even end this film with a positive thing to say about it. Filmmaking and production is one thing, but if you are making a movie about violence solely for the sake of violence, then what is the point?

    I found Schnetzer's performance something that was both fragile and determined. While I at times failed to see motivation in certain scenes, his portrayal of Brad is fully-realized and the basic moral compass of the movie. From beginning to end, the story can be simplified to that of a boy who learns to no longer be afraid. It's a small arc, muddled in with a plot of hazing that does very little for the cause of the overall picture. On an intimate level, this was a story I could get behind. Everyone likes a happy ending, don't they?
    helpful•17
    6
    • artmania90
    • Feb 1, 2017

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 23, 2016 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Cabra
    • Filming locations
      • Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
    • Production companies
      • Killer Films
      • Fresh Jade
      • Polyphony Digital
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $23,020
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $23,020
      • Sep 25, 2016
    • Gross worldwide
      • $23,020
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 36 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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