Review of Goat (2016) by Chris O — 17 May 2018

An intense, eye-opening drama.

Reeling from a terrifying assault over the summer, 19-year-old Brad Land (Ben Schnetzer) starts college determined to get his life back to normal. His brother, Brett (Nick Jonas), is already established on campus and with a fraternity that allures Brad with its promise of protection, popularity, and life-long friendships. Brad is desperate to belong but as he sets out to join the fraternity his brother exhibits reservations, a sentiment that threatens to divide them. As the pledging ritual moves into hell week, a rite that promises to usher these unproven boys into manhood, the stakes violently increase with a series of torturous and humiliating events. What occurs in the name of 'brotherhood' tests both boys and their relationship in brutal ways.

During the year, I thought it'd be a real interesting story to write about a frat and stories of hazing that have gone on. Then I remembered that I saw a trailer for a film similar to this concept and I thought, maybe I should watch that? After watching this, I was surely not dissapointed, as "Goat" was a well written story with some really intense moments. It gave me a lot of different realizations but it was also an eye opener. I had read about some frat hazings gone wrong and seen it on screen a couple times but this is a film centralized around that idea which made it even more intense.

Let's start with the performances (shocker). Ben Schnetzer was not a name I was familiar with buy damn did he put on a performance in here. Although the marketing put guys like Nick Jonas and James Franco (who had 5 minutes of screen time) at the head of the project, Ben definitely stole the show. I genuinely want to see this guy in more things, as he gave an emotionally charged performance. His portrayal of the character and his performance was the lead of the film and he killed it. Nick Jonas also did a great job, and I've always actually liked him as an actor. I haven't seen him in huge, diverse roles but he's done pretty well in this stuff he's been in. He did great in this film and if you haven't seen him act, I recommend you start with this film.

The overall story was the thing that fueled this and made you feel uncomfortable the entire time. It's a story about 'brotherhood' and the extent that some of these initiations go to. They're more than extreme and I can't imagine having to go through that myself. I think I read that this was loosely based on true events, or maybe it is based off of true events but either way, I can believe that this is real. The entire film feels so real and uncomforting and I think that's a hard thing to accomplish.

In the end, "Goat" was a great drama and a well written one at that. It's on Amazon Prime for those who have that platform and I hope that those who can stomach this topic give this film a chance.