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Animal Factory

Animal Factory

Crime · Drama · 2000

Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.

Movie details

Animal Factory

“On the inside the rules are brutal and the stakes are high.”

2000 Crime · Drama 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.6 / 10

15K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

83 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

65 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Animal Factory?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Steve Buscemi

Written by

Edward Bunker · John Steppling

Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe

Earl Copen

Edward Furlong

Edward Furlong

Ron Decker

Danny Trejo

Danny Trejo

Vito

Mark Boone Junior

Mark Boone Junior

Paul Adams

Seymour Cassel

Seymour Cassel

Lt. Seeman

Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke

Jan the Actress

Tom Arnold

Tom Arnold

Buck Rowan

Court is in session

Put Animal Factory on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.