‘American Animals’ Trailer: Evan Peters & Barry Keoghan Use Old Age Makeup To Attempt An Incredible Art Heist

Sometimes you just feel like your life should be special. Like all that you are experiencing is building up to something big. That’s the driving force behind “American Animals,” which tells the story of two friends who attempt one of the most brazen art heists in history.

In the new trailer for “American Animals,” we see friends Spencer and Warren figure out how to steal one of the most expensive books in history, which is only being guarded by “one old lady.” Donning old age makeup, the two friends coerce some other young guys to help with the heist. The film looks to combine the style and action of a heist film, with little bits of dry humor.

“American Animals” stars Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, Ann Dowd and Udo Kier. The film was directed by Bart Layton, who is best known for his movie “The Imposter.”

“American Animals” had its debut at Sundance this year (read our review) and hits select theaters June 1.

Here is the official, long-form synopsis:

American Animals is the unbelievable but entirely true story of four young men who attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history. The film centers around two friends from the middle-class suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky. Spencer (Barry Keoghan), is determined to become an artist but feels he lacks the essential ingredient that unites all great artists – suffering. His closest friend, Warren (Evan Peters), has also been raised to believe that his life will be special, and that he will be unique in some way. 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 important or special in any way. Determined to live lives that are out of the ordinary, they plan the brazen theft of some of the world’s most valuable books from the special collections room of Spencer’s college Library. Enlisting two more friends, accounting major Eric (Jared Abrahamson) and fitness fanatic Chas (Blake Jenner), and taking their cues from heist movies, the gang meticulously plots the theft and subsequent fence of the stolen artworks. Although some of the group begin to have second thoughts, they discover that the plan has seemingly taken on a life of its own. Unfolding from multiple perspectives, and innovatively incorporating the real-life figures at the heart of the story, writer-director Bart Layton (The Imposter) takes the heist movie into bold new territory.