Zoo is a 2017 British and Irish historical war family drama film directed and written by Colin McIvor. The film, based on a true story, stars Dame Penelope Wilton, Art Parkinson, Toby Jones, Ian O'Reilly, Ian McElhinney, Amy Huberman, and Damian O'Hare. As the Belfast Blitz ravages the city, a lonely widow, and an awkward teenager with misfit friends take an elephant named Buster from the city zoo, and hide it in the widow's terraced house back yard.

Zoo
Directed byColin McIvor
Written byColin McIvor
Produced by
  • Katy Jackson
  • Jacqueline Kerrin
  • John Leslie
  • Thomas Vencelides
  • Dominic Wright
Starring
CinematographyDamien Elliott
Edited by
  • Chris Gill
  • Brian Philip Davis
Music byMark Thomas
Production
companies
Piccadilly Pictures
Northern Ireland Screen
Yellowmoon
Metro International
Ripple World Pictures
Wee Buns Films
Distributed byEntertainment One (UK/IRL)
Samuel Goldwyn Films (USA)
Release dates
Running time
97 minutes[1]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
LanguageEnglish
Box office$231,719[2]

Cast edit

Production edit

Principal photography on the film began in September 2016 in Belfast.[4] The film is loosely based on the story of Denise Weston Austin, Belfast Zoo's 'Elephant Angel'.[5]

Reception edit

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88%, based on 17 reviews, and an average rating of 7.2/10.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ Debruge, Peter (8 June 2018). Film Review: 'Zoo'. Variety. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Zoo". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b Wiseman, Andreas (11 May 2016). "'Game Of Thrones' star to lead family-adventure 'Zoo'". Screen Daily. Screen International. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  4. ^ McGonagle, Suzanne (21 September 2016). "Filming of 'Elephant angel' film Zoo starts on Belfast streets". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Belfast Zoo History". Belfast Zoo. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Zoo (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 22 June 2018.

External links edit