‘Goat’ Review: Big League Dreams

Directed by Tyree Dillihay, Goat plays like a souped-up Space Jam set in an anthropomorphized society reminiscent of Zootopia. The story follows Will, a small goat voiced by Caleb McLaughlin, who dreams of playing in the basketball big leagues and is unexpectedly signed to a professional team alongside his idol, Jett Fillmore (voiced by Gabrielle Union).

The film leans into the relentless, spastic motion that marks much of modern children’s entertainment, but it belongs to the rarer group that treats that energy as a thoughtful visual tool — think the Spiderverse films and KPop Demon Hunters, all animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Stephen Curry, who also produces, lends his voice to a giraffe player, and the artwork, with colorful texture and a dynamic animation style, turns every basketball game into a roller-coaster action set piece. There are few surprises and the emotional beats are mostly rudimentary, yet the visuals enliven the material until the hyperspeed approach occasionally tips into sensory overload.

goat, tyree dillihay, caleb mclaughlin, gabrielle union, stephen curry, basketball, animation, sony imageworks, zootopia, spiderverse