Since prime time has dulled the shocking nature of incest and pedophilia, bestiality is really the last taboo, said Dana Stevens in Slate.com. With Zoo, that frontier has been breached. Director Robinson Devor uses actors to re-enact a real 2005 incident in which a 'œzoophile' who called himself Mr. Hands died of a perforated colon after being penetrated by a horse. Horse-human intercourse is glimpsed only momentarily'”Zoo's two-hour run time is mostly taken up by interviews with re-enactors playing Mr. Hands' zoophile buddies, the ones who used to gather in the barn at nighttime. They describe their sexual proclivity as love for the innocence and beauty of the equine species'”a love that 'œwill resonate with anyone who's ever confided in their dog.' All this is filmed sumptuously'”glimpses of the barn swept with a cool, blue sheen, said David Ansen in Newsweek. 'œRarely has a movie's style been so radically, and deliberately, at odds with its subject matter.' Moralists will dismiss this movie out of hand, but the question of whether bestiality is wrong doesn't really matter here, said Nicolas Rapold in The New York Sun. The film is really a test to see if something so disgusting can be posed in such a way that everyday people can relate to it. At the very least, it's thought-provoking: 'œYou probably won't find a film out now that triggers a post-viewing discussion'”of matters emotional, aesthetic, philosophical, and, uh, logistical'”quite like this one.'
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
