Cryptozoo

Name: Cryptozoo
Genre: Animation
Released: August 20, 2021
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Aggeliki Papoulia, Emily Davis, Grace Zabriskie, Jason Schwartzman, Lake Bell

2021

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Ratings

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4.8

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4.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Cryptozoo

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Movie Details & Credits

Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: August 20, 2021 | Not Rated

Starring: Aggeliki Papoulia, Emily Davis, Grace Zabriskie, Jason Schwartzman, Lake Bell, Louisa Krause, Michael Cera, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan

Summary: Cryptids are creatures whose existence is disputed or unsubstantiated. When Amber and Matt get lost in the woods during a sex date, they stumble upon a high-security fence. On the other side, they find a cryptid—a unicorn—that would change their lives. Military brat Lauren spent her childhood nights in a nightmarish state, until a mythicalCryptids are creatures whose existence is disputed or unsubstantiated. When Amber and Matt get lost in the woods during a sex date, they stumble upon a high-security fence. On the other side, they find a cryptid—a unicorn—that would change their lives. Military brat Lauren spent her childhood nights in a nightmarish state, until a mythical baku came to eat her dreams, releasing her from nocturnal torment. Lauren decides to dedicate her life to rescuing and sheltering cryptids from those who seek to exploit them, so she becomes a cryptozookeeper. But when Lauren’s and Amber’s paths cross, Lauren begins to wonder if displaying these rare beasts in confinement is better than enabling these mythical creatures to remain hidden and unknown.
… Expand

Director: Dash Shaw

Genre(s): Animation

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 95 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

The Playlist Carlos Aguilar

Jan 30, 2021

To watch Cryptozoo is to open a Disneyland-size kingdom of ideas that never cease to astound. Read full review

Justin Chang

Aug 19, 2021

Page by page, frame by frame, it seeks to cultivate your wonder and awaken your outrage, to spin a work of unbridled fantasy into a depressingly relevant critique of human callousness and greed in any era. Read full review

Liam Lacey

Aug 18, 2021

Animation director Jane Samborski’s richly eclectic miscellany of visual styles depict a bestiary of mythic creatures and outré scenes of sex and violence that are matched to director/writer Dash Shaw’s allegorical narrative. Read full review

Bob Strauss

Aug 18, 2021

In every way, Cryptozoo is a more ambitious achievement than Shaw’s coy but pleasing first feature, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (2016). And while its hippie-era setting and hallucinatory imagery give a nostalgic kick, the film’s darker conflicts speak to dire issues of today. Read full review

Polygon Tasha Robinson

Jan 31, 2021

Nothing about where the story is going or how it’ll get there stylistically can be taken for granted. That’s one of the biggest joys of Shaw’s projects — the sense of something new and different happening, of that anti-capitalist, anti-conformist, anti-containment bent that stretches throughout the story also extending into every aspect of the film’s aesthetics. Read full review

David Rooney

Feb 11, 2021

Its freewheeling storytelling often feels slapdash, its hippy-dippy earnestness a touch simplistic and its central allegory is lifted straight out of X-Men. But there's a nonstop fusillade of imagination at work here that commands attention, even when the balance of art-school inventiveness and child-like fantasy threatens to topple into chaos. Read full review

Christopher Machell

Oct 24, 2021

Though its 60s-inspired, Gilliam-esque animation style is certainly awkward enough to draw the notice of the arthouse and indie crowds, Cryptozoo’s storytelling and themes fail to come up to the complexity of even a middling Pixar effort. Read full review

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User Reviews

bertobellamy

Aug 20, 2021

'Jurassic Park' meets 'Missing Link.' Yes, the last act goes into blockbuster territory, but I loved Dash Shaw's idea of a mythological zoo. Also, there's a relevant meditation about the complicated and almost always destructive relationship between humans and nature. Not a perfect film, but'Jurassic Park' meets 'Missing Link.' Yes, the last act goes into blockbuster territory, but I loved Dash Shaw's idea of a mythological zoo. Also, there's a relevant meditation about the complicated and almost always destructive relationship between humans and nature. Not a perfect film, but quite enjoyable.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JLuis_001

Aug 25, 2021

Cryptic and at the same time enigmatic, but it spreads too much, and what apparently seems to be something out of a dream or rather a nightmare, ends up making you sleepy.
That's what was happening to me.
It lacks focus and a better direction, but it's worth it as a discordant animatedCryptic and at the same time enigmatic, but it spreads too much, and what apparently seems to be something out of a dream or rather a nightmare, ends up making you sleepy.
That's what was happening to me.

It lacks focus and a better direction, but it's worth it as a discordant animated film. Especially when it's so difficult to see films in the genre aimed at adults.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

livinmediocre

Nov 17, 2021

I had no idea what to expect going into this.

I knew that the voice cast was pretty cool, the animation was gonna be interesting, and that a bunch of mythological creatures would be present. And I think I’ll start with the animation, which was pretty awesome. Hand drawn animation is alwaysI had no idea what to expect going into this.

I knew that the voice cast was pretty cool, the animation was gonna be interesting, and that a bunch of mythological creatures would be present.

And I think I’ll start with the animation, which was pretty awesome. Hand drawn animation is always really cool to me, and I’ll always appreciate it so much. I think it was really neat, and had so many interesting quirks and cool little things.

As for the voice cast, there were some cool names but I don’t think it was very.. good? Seemed very stiff to me. But otherwise, I thought it was fine.

I think this film is just not for me. There wasn’t anything for me to latch on to with the story. While being amazed with the different animations and creatures, that’s all there was for me.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

BassiTessi8

Aug 20, 2022

Hello everyone, i am here to share with you on how i was able to recover my money from the brokers company i invested my hard earned money to with the help of callbackfunds@aol.com. Thanks to their officers at work for me making sure i am settled. Contact them now if you are a scam victim asHello everyone, i am here to share with you on how i was able to recover my money from the brokers company i invested my hard earned money to with the help of callbackfunds@aol.com. Thanks to their officers at work for me making sure i am settled. Contact them now if you are a scam victim as well let justice be done.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

UncleWillard

Aug 20, 2021

Man bad, women good. That's the moral here. This idea that nature is inherently noble and that men (specifically men because all the bad guys are men in this) just don't get it. The reality is, and something feminists and the LGBTQ community fail to grasp, is that nature is not inherentlyMan bad, women good. That's the moral here. This idea that nature is inherently noble and that men (specifically men because all the bad guys are men in this) just don't get it. The reality is, and something feminists and the LGBTQ community fail to grasp, is that nature is not inherently noble, it simply seeks to support its biological imperatives. No other species tries to change its very nature to suit its desires. And nowhere else, but in nature, will you see brutal savagery greeted with calm passivity. Gazelles don't protest against predators. The animation, while interesting, is not great. It looks like something a child drew. I know, I know, Picasso famously said he spent his life learning to draw like a child. He was also a womanizer and a complete misogynist, but I guess we'll overlook that. This is a miss for me.… Expand

5 of 10 users found this helpful55

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