15. Goats
Goats acts as a prime example of why sometimes going by what critics tell you isn’t the way to go when considering watching a film. In the process of watching it because of an actor, I actually found a film that I now hold as a personal favourite of mine.
This coming-of-age story is set in the foothills of Tucson, Arizona where we follow the life of fifteen-year-old Ellis Whitman (Graham Phillips). Ellis is getting ready to attend his freshman year at the same school his father went to – Gates Academy, a prep school on the East Coast. The thing is, Ellis’ father has been out of the picture for a majority of his life. His father left when he was a baby, leaving his mother Wendy (Vera Farmiga) to bring him up with her friend and subsequent gardener who goes by the name of Goat Man (David Duchovny) – who also ends up being more of a father to Ellis than his actual father is or ever was.
The film has such a fine balance between comedy and poignancy. At the point in time I watched it, I had just left college and began that familiar pit of despair of what I was going to do with my life and that I had already begun to waste it. Goats pulled me out of that hole, showing that something as trivial as goat trekking across the Arizona desert gave meaning to the lives of Ellis and Goat Man. They appreciate nature so much, that it makes them appreciate each other even more. And even though Ellis leaves this sanctuary, he doesn’t forget about it and neither does Goat Man. Neither of them forget their roots or each other, even though they belong to an extremely dysfunctional family. The film has such a beautiful aesthetic feel to it through the cinematography and storytelling it leaves you with such a warm feeling from not only the film, but towards life in general.
Words by Sophie McEvoy