Goat

Goat is a 2016 American drama film directed by Andrew Neel and written by David Gordon Green, Neel, and Mike Roberts; it is based on the book Goat: A Memoir by Brad Land. It stars Ben Schnetzer, Nick Jonas, Gus Halper, Daniel Flaherty, Jake Picking, Virginia Gardner and James Franco. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2016. The film was released on September 23, 2016, by The Film Arcade and Paramount Home Video with a limited theatrical release and a same day video on demand distribution. Plot Reeling from a terrifying assault over the summer, 19-year-old Brad Land starts college determined to get his life back to normal. His brother, Brett, is already established on campus and is a member of a fraternity that lures Brad in with its promise of protection, popularity, and life-long friendships. Brad is desperate to belong but as he sets out to join the fraternity his brother exhibits reservations, a sentiment that threatens to divide them. As the pledging ritual moves into hell week, a rite that promises to usher these unproven boys into manhood, the stakes violently increase with a series of torturous and humiliating events. The pledges are taken to an off-campus site in the woods, where they are told they either need to drink large quantities of beer, or if they fail they need to sodomize and then kill a goat. They pass the test, and are told the hazing is over. During the crossing ceremony, Brad becomes upset that his brother did not attend and confronts him. Their argument becomes heated and they almost fight each other. Brett says Brad does not belong in the fraternity after seeing how bad the hazing process was. Events culminate when Will, Brad's pledge brother, dies of a heart attack while exercising on the track field and his body was shown to be covered in bruises from hazing. The pledges, particularly Brad, are warned not to reveal anything to the authorities. The university launches an investigation into Phi Sigma Mu and the fraternity is suspended from campus after someone had told the investigators all about the hazing process. The pledge master suspects Brad for leaking information to the university. Brad comes back to his dorm after class to find his goat defecating on the carpet with "Rat Fuck" shaved into its coat.