Metacritic reviews

Falls so far outside our ordinary story expectations it may frustrate some viewers.

Involvingly acted, surehandedly crafted.

Where the movie falters is in sustaining the tricky balance between pastoral life lessons and creepy suspense.

It's a movie brimming with good intentions, solid production values and searing performances. However, it never quite clicks into place with any real satisfaction.

Hurt is slumming in an unchallenging role.

There's something plodding and uncomfortably strident about Little Animals that keeps the audience from sharing, much less understanding, Bobby's enchantment.

This moody film is ravishingly beautiful to look at -- but the story's fairy tale atmosphere doesn't entirely mesh with its psychological underpinnings.

The effort is earnest, but the plot turns more and more implausible.

Simplistic on one level, indecipherable on another, it's a most peculiar muddle.

Three leads do their best with simplistic characters.