GOAT

"A pointed, astute and unflinching look at unbridled machismo and its consequences … [director Andrew] Neel has taken college drama tropes and made them nastier, darker and much more interesting." – The Guardian

College freshman Brad is determined to pledge the Phi Sigma Mu fraternity: they throw the best parties, they get the best girls, and your brothers have your back. To get in, he must submit to a punishing hazing ritual, filled with humiliating degradations and life-threatening endurance tests. It's a week of hell and Brad – the recent victim of a brutal and unprovoked attack – must decide if the life that awaits him on the other side is worth fighting for.

Based on Brad Land's memoir, Goat is a powerful and profound look at the state of American masculinity from director Andrew Neel (Darkon, MIFF 2006). Produced by Christine Vachon and featuring a script co-written by David Gordon Green (Joe, MIFF 2014; Prince Avalanche, MIFF 2013), the film boasts stand-out performances from Ben Schnetzer (Pride), former pop star Nick Jonas, and James Franco (who also co-produces). An insight into the American psyche, Goat submits us to the extraordinary and toxic rituals that forge the world's future politicians and business leaders.

"There is something deeply sympathetic and sorrowful at work in director Andrew Neel's frat hazing drama." – Vanity Fair