“I feel like I’m a p—-.”
“Maybe you should just quit.”
“I can’t quit.”
“Why not.”….
“Goat” depicts the dark side of Greek life. Whether people would like to admit it or not, most colleges have stories about hazing; stories of shirtless “overly masculine” boys being rowdy, drinking way too many beers.
Director Andrew Neel tells the true story of two brothers and a traumatizing event that brings them together. The film brings you in and makes you feel a sense of belonging at first with the peer pressure of fitting in.
The introduction of the film starts off with a prolonged scene of shirtless men screaming and yelling for a solid two minutes or so before jumping to the scene that changes Brad’s life. This introduction is the foreshadowing of what’s to come.
The protagonist, Brad, played by Ben Schnetzer, was the buzzed about new actor at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Schnetzer was also a minor character in a similar plot with a lot of British accents in 2014’s “The Riot Club.” In “Goat,” he portrays a misfit who experiences a life-changing experience.
His brother Brett, played by Nick Jonas, guides him through this tough experience. Brett pressures Brad to join him and his “brothers” of Phi Sigma Mu during Brett’s freshman year. However, Brett and the fraternity’s plan to help his brother backfires.
As the drama continues and speeds up, the horrifying truth of “hell week” and its consequences come into play.
Many of the sinister scenes of hazing may be hard to watch at times, but shines a dark light on what thousands of men go through for the sake of “brotherhood” when pledging an all American college lifestyle.
The crazy scenes shows just how much these men, not only in this anti-hazing memoir written by Brad Land, but all over campuses across the country have to do. They go through these psychological events not caring about the damage being done.
Watch Jonas in a never before seen way, as he too also struggles with his own guilt being the protective older brother, while remaining loyal to his fraternity.
With a lot of twists and turns and a big plot twist in the end, you will be grabbing onto your seat and cringing from the gross and sadistic hazing events given. Many of these include being slapped around and treated like “goats.”
With the tradition across many other campuses, Neel gives a darker parallel universe to “Animal House,” the 1978 comedy film.
These men are taken in and treated inhumane and worthless with no integrity to quit until things are taken too far.
The scenes are short and to the point, with very little dialect when it comes to the hazing scenes which makes more of an impact on the audience.
Catch a cameo from James Franco, producer of the film, who plays a father and alumni who can’t seem to get away from the contagious life of Phi Sigma Mu. This unnecessary scene might be Neel’s only regret of the film.
But other than that, Neel does an excellent job pulling fear, hopelessness and a brother together in this must-see movie that you can now rent on iTunes.
“If you quit what else is there. You know you’re just another guy that couldn’t hack it. Then everywhere you go everyone is going to know that.”
“It’s just the way it is.”
“I’m having sex for the first time in my life, Brad I’m not stupid. Where the fraternity goes, everything goes with it.”
“Don’t give up man”
