TL;DR – While not a revolutionary story, the gorgeous animation and heartwarming fun make it a lovely watch.  

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

GOAT Review Introduction

It is the time of year when you feel a bit reflective and need to catch up with everything you might have missed throughout the year. There is one film from earlier this year that a lot of people have recommended that I needed to give a watch. It doesn’t hurt that my current sports team is also at the bottom of the ladder fighting for it all, which means it is a perfect window for today’s film.  

So, to set the scene, in a world filled with sentient animals, there is one sport that unites the world: roarball [basketball]. However, it is a sport only played by bigs; the smalls have to watch. Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin) is a goat who has always dreamed of playing, but he is a small. It doesn’t help that the local team, the Thorns under Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), are at the bottom of the ladder. But when opposition player Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre) starts dissing the local team in Vinetown, their own home, Will steps up and scores on him. This creates a viral moment that team owner Flo (Jenifer Lewis) uses to get more people in seats, but no one was expecting them to do well. The team had other ideas.

Worldbuilding

One of the best things about GOAT is its worldbuilding. Even though it is mostly a sports game and much of the film is set on the court, at every moment they the opportunity to explore more of how this world works and possibly how lax the local workplace health and safter regulations are. I mean those courts are death traps. My favourite moment was the delivery to the birdhouses; it also shows that they will add a joke when it works. Now, it is also clear that a lot of this film is very much grounded in the American experience around sports, class, and race. But it is added in a way that feels organic to the film rather than being forced in.

Animation

The stylised animation in this film works so well for what they wanted to achieve. You have so many different animals that have to look like they belong in this sporting event, and the art style supports it. I love all the small touches, like how Will’s eyes turn into squares when he focuses. Sony Animation has been jumping from strength to strength with their animation techniques, forming a powerful style. Every frame in this movie stands out, and you can tell a lot of work went into each moment. Movement is key because so much of this film is on the roarball court; if the movement of the animation didn’t work, the whole film would fall flat.

Narrative

If you have watched a sports film before, then you will already know the arc of the film before the first frame of the story starts. It is not a fresh narrative, but it is a very well-constructed story, because there is a clear commitment to make every part of it work. A lot of that comes from the voice actors who feel grounded in the world. The team of Will, Jett, Olivia (Nicola Coughlan), Archie (David Harbour), Modo (Nick Kroll), and Lenny (Stephen Curry) make this weird yet wonderful collection that works well together. All the characters in the film are such a delight that you want to watch them thrive … well, almost all of them … looking at you, Flo.        

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend GOAT? Yes, we would. It might not be doing anything revolutionary new, but the care at every stage of the film is clear. The animation is a delight, the voice acting is on point, and the story works so well.   

Have you watched GOAT? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked GOAT, we would recommend The Bad Guys to you because it also understands the power of an oddball group of characters coming together with real heart.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of GOAT
Directed by – Tyree Dillihay
Story by – Nicolas Curcio & Peter Chiarelli  
Screenplay by – Aaron Buchsbaum & Teddy Riley
Based on – Funky Dunks [Farm Team] by Chris Tougas
Music by – Kris Bowers
Cinematography by – John Clark
Edited by – Clare Knight
Production/Distribution Companies – Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Unanimous Media, Modern Magic, & Sony Pictures
Starring – Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbour, Nick Kroll, Stephen Curry, Jenifer Lewis, Patton Oswalt, Jelly Roll, Jennifer Hudson, Sherry Cola, Eduardo Franco, Andrew Santino, Bobby Lee, Wayne Knight, Ayesha Curry, VanVan, Rayaan Khan, & Adam Pally
With – Luke Cimity, Angel Reese, Joe La Puma, Erin Andrews, Andre Iguodala, Mike Breen, A’ja Wilson, Kevin Love, & Dwyane Wade
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: 6; New Zealand: PG; United Kingdom: PG; United States: PG