Written and directed by Bart Layton, American Animals is a hard-to-believe but entirely true story. The movie follows four young men who attempt to execute one of U.S. history’s most daring art heists.

The movie focuses on two friends from the middle-class suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky. Spencer, played by Barry Keoghan, is determined to become an artist but feels short on the fundamental element that unites all great artists – suffering.

Spencer’s closest friend, Warren, played by Evan Peters, grew up thinking like Spencer. He believed that his life would be extraordinary and he would become unique somehow. But as they leave the suburbs for universities in the same town, the realities of adult life begin to dawn on them, and with that, the realization that their lives may, in fact, never be meaningful or unique in any way.

They are still unwaveringly committed to living out of the ordinary. Hence, they designed a barefaced theft of some of the world’s most valuable books from the special collections room of Spencer’s College Library.

The recruit has two more friends: accounting major Eric, played by Jared Abrahamson, and fitness fanatic Chas, played by Blake Jenner. Together, they modeled the heist from movies about heists where the gang methodically plots the theft and later fence of the stolen artworks.

Even though some of the guys start having second thoughts, they discern how the plan has taken on a life of its own. Layton’s skill comes into play by unfolding from multiple perspectives and innovatively incorporating the real-life figures at the heart of the story.

The movie trailer shows the silliness of the young men’s plan, but I am curious if they pull it off.

Here’s a featurette with director Bart Layton.

This featurette tells you about the character Chas.