more in its formalism than in terms of graphic content." The Seattle Times called the film "A tough sell that gets respect at Sundance", also noting the local economic effect of landmark films which put a location "on the map". Rob Nelson of the OC Weekly said, "Zoo achieves the seemingly impossible: It tells the luridly reported tale of a Pacific Northwest Boeing engineer's fatal sexual encounter with a horse in a way that's haunting rather than shocking and tender beyond reason." Dennis Lim of The New York Times commended how the film is able to tell its story "with neither squeamishness nor prurience." Similar views were expressed by Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, who called it a "remarkably, an elegant, eerily lyrical film", and Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star, who said the film is "gorgeously artful ... one of the most beautifully restrained, formally distinctive and mysterious films of the entire festival". Anthony Kaufman of IndieWire called it "one of the most beautiful films of the year" and noted that "without sensation", it steps back to a "non-traditional" viewpoint, with "Devor [making] a persuasive, provocative and deeply profound case for tolerance and understanding in the face of the seemingly most incomprehensible of acts". Other reviewers criticized the film for breaching "the last taboo", or for sinking to new depths, with Kathleen Parker of The Baltimore Sun writing, "More compelling than the depths of man's degeneracy is our cultural rationalization of 'art,' whereby pushing the envelope is confused with genius and scuttling the last taboo is seen as an expression of sophistication." On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 60%, based on 50 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "While a marginally fascinating look at a taboo subject, Zoo is bogged down by its overly artistic presentation." Awards and recognition Zoo was one of 16 documentaries selected, out of 856 submitted, for screening at the Sundance Film Festival, and played at numerous U.S. regional festivals thereafter. It was selected as one of the top five American films to be presented at the Directors' Fortnight sidebar at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Aftermath Charles Mudede reported in 2015 that the zoophiles featured in the film had remained in contact with the director; according to Mudede, they believed that Devor was "a real ally" to their cause. References External links American documentary films