ZOO: A documentary of tasteful bestiality. |
Robinson Devor’s documentary about a Boeing engineer who died after having sex with a horse in rural Washington is concerned more with the why of the act than with the how. Passing on the really icky stuff, Zoo concentrates on the lives of the deceased (called “Mr. Hands”) and the zoophiles he hung around with. No surprise, most of those interviewed refuse to appear on camera, so actors reconstruct the dreamy, dialogue-free visuals. Paramedic “Coyote” leaves his mother’s house in Virginia for Washington. “I don’t need a high level of emotional interaction, whether it be human or otherwise,” the real-life “Coyote” says during the voiceover. The group, including Mr. Hands, gather at a farmhouse, where they eat supper and crack jokes. When the bestiality scene does come, it’s done tastefully. But Zoo could have used a few more unsettling images — it feels more like a PC cop-out than a taboo-tackling work of art.
