New Animal Farm Movie Has A Bizarre Ending Where It Demands Free Money From Viewers

By TeeJay Small
| Published 16 seconds ago

If you’ve been keeping up with news surrounding the new Animal Farm adaptation, you might already be heading to the theater with low expectations. Between the lackluster trailer, negative early reviews, and overall bizarre vibe of the entire production, many fans of the source material are expecting the film to underdeliver on its premise, to say the very least. Now, thanks to a few social media posts from audiences who have already seen the film, we can confirm that Animal Farm offers one of the strangest viewing experiences imaginable.

Specifically, images have been circulating that show the movie concludes with a screen displaying a pair of QR codes. The screen prompts the question, “How’s our farming? Let us know by scanning below.” The QR codes read “wow, I loved it” and “never do this again,” respectively. Once scanned, these codes direct consumers to a web page that requests reviews of the film and asks for a donation of up to $15,000. The donations are intended to provide free tickets to other consumers, potentially in collaboration with school trips or other large-scale showings.

Needless to say, this entire experience is extremely strange, vaguely insulting, and has already left audiences in a state of frustration. Even if Animal Farm was the best adaptation ever made, the overt neediness of begging for reviews and donations from audiences who have already paid completely devalues the project. Seriously, I’ve seen literal television advertisements with more heart and artistic integrity.

After suffering through 90 minutes of Seth Rogen chuckling about the pitfalls of unchecked authority, the last thing I need is to have a digital hobo shaking a can of change in my face, demanding that I fund the same viewing experience for my fellow proletariat. Personally, I struggle to recall the last time a theatrical film has insulted its audience in this way.

In fairness to the team behind Animal Farm, the website for reviews and donations is loaded with humorous little easter eggs. A negative review, for example, will be flagged with large, bolded text stating “Your opinion is wrong,” and “Napoleon is currently reviewing your feelings.” While I can appreciate the effort that was put into this site, this is not the way to do viral marketing.

Projects such as The Simpsons Movie famously utilized purpose-made websites to promote their theatrical run. That site, established back in 2007, allowed the user to play flash games, view concept art, and watch special behind-the-scenes featurettes of the animated film. Other recent projects, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, have integrated special icons into the Google search engine, allowing fans to press coin blocks while looking up showtimes and cast information. Crucially, these sites did not impede the viewing experience of their respective films, nor did they badger paying customers with demands to pay a second time.

If you were already planning on catching Animal Farm in theaters, this might be the sort of thing that will make you change your mind. If you had no interest in seeing the film before this, I highly doubt this will sway you toward purchasing one ticket, let alone dozens more for random strangers. The point is, if Andy Serkis and Angel Studios are looking to win friends and influence people, they should really take this back to the drawing board. The revolution will not be televised, but it will accept funding via credit, debit, or PayPal.