Editing Zoo (2007 film) (section)

==Reception==
Sundance judges called the film a "humanizing look at the life and bizarre death of a seemingly normal Seattle family man who met his untimely end after an unusual encounter with a horse".<ref>{{cite web|last=Westneat|first=Danny|date=December 3, 2006|title=New movie is the spawn of horse sex|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/dannywestneat/2003459228_danny03.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205121342/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003459228_danny03.html|archive-date=December 5, 2006|work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The film was picked up for distribution by THINKFilm, whose executive said, "The film is extreme more in its formalism than in terms of graphic content."<ref name="NYT" />

''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".<ref>{{cite news |last=Vicchrilli |first=Sam |date=January 26, 2007 |title="Zoo" a tough sell that gets respect at Sundance |newspaper=The Seattle Times |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/zoo-a-tough-sell-that-gets-respect-at-sundance/ |access-date=December 7, 2022}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news|last=Nelson|first=Rob|date=January 25, 2007|title=Sympathy for the Devil|newspaper=OC Weekly|url=http://www.ocweekly.com/film/film/sympathy-for-the-devil/26581/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011104956/https://ocweekly.com/film/film/sympathy-for-the-devil/26581/|archive-date=October 11, 2007}}</ref> Dennis Lim of ''The New York Times'' commended how the film is able to tell its story "with neither squeamishness nor prurience."<ref name="NYT" /> Similar views were expressed by Kenneth Turan of the ''Los Angeles Times'', who called it a "remarkably, an elegant, eerily lyrical film",<ref name="LAtimes">{{cite news|title='Zoo' is not just 'eeew'|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-22-et-zoo22-story.html|first=Kenneth|last=Turan|author-link=Kenneth Turan|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 22, 2007|access-date=September 4, 2011}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite news|last=Pevere|first=Geoff|title=In praise of real movies|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=January 26, 2007|url=https://www.thestar.com/article/175090}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web|last=Kaufman|first=Anthony|date=January 23, 2007|title=Year of the Horse: The Stunning World of "Zoo"|url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/park_city_07_review_year_of_the_horse_the_stunning_world_of_zoo/|website=IndieWire}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite news|last=Parker|first=Kathleen|author-link=Kathleen Parker|date=January 26, 2007|title=Sundance films wallow in perversity, try to pass it off as 'art'|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2007/01/26/sundance-films-wallow-in-perversity-try-to-pass-it-off-as-art/|url-status=live|access-date=September 4, 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701150625/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-01-26/news/0701260182_1_marc-klaas-zoo-devor|archive-date=July 1, 2012}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zoo|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/zoo|website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref>