GOAT (2026)

Genre: Animation
Director: Tyree Dillihay
Cast: Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Stephen Curry, Nicola Coughlan, Nick Kroll, David Harbour, Jenifer Lewis
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Sony
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 17 February 2026

Synopsis: From Sony Pictures Animation, the studio behind Spider-ManTM: Across the Spider-Verse and the artists that made KPop Demon Hunters, comes GOAT, an original action-comedy set in an all-animal world. The story follows Will, a small goat with big dreams who gets a once-in-a[1]lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball – a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world. Will’s new teammates aren’t thrilled about having a little goat on their roster, but Will is determined to revolutionize the sport and prove once and for all that “smalls can ball!”

Movie Review:

Trust the minds behind ‘GOAT’ to think of an animated comedy about an actual goat Will Harris (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin) who dreams of being the Greatest of All Time in a basketball-like game called roarball. Despite the pun of the title, this goat goes further than just realising his dream by the end of the movie; he also helps his local team, the Vineland Thorns, regain their mojo.

Despite its anthropomorphized setting (think ‘Zootopia’), ‘GOAT’ is ultimately an underdog story. That is no coincidence though – it was inspired by the real-life struggles of basketball great Stephen Curry, a physically undersized late bloomer who went on to become a four-time NBA champion, two-time MVP and Olympic gold medallist. Curry not only serves as producer, but also lends his voice to a giraffe on the Thorns who has lost his passion for the game.

Said giraffe Lenny Williamson is one of those whom Will inspires after joining the Thorns; besides Lenny, there is an ostrich addicted to social media (Nicola Coughlan); a Komodo dragon with a bizarre accent (Nick Kroll); and a rhino (David Harbour) whose natural aggression has been tamped down since he became the father of twin daughters. Above them all, Will has to contend with the star player of the team, a flamboyant, preening panther named Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union). Jett also happens to be Will’s idol, but as with such celebrity worship, the truth is often far from the hype.

That Will has the opportunity to sign on to the Thorns is credit to its publicity-hungry owner Flo (Jenifer Lewis), who signs Will up as a media stunt to help her flailing team fill stadiums again after a video of Will going one-on-one against pro player Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), an Andalusian horse who is the MVP of the league, goes viral. You know that Will will rally the Thorns to go head to head against Mane, but if the outcome of that championship match against the formidable Lava Coast Magma is no surprise, it is the journey to the winning that ultimately matters.

And in that regard, director Tyree Dillihay, working from a script by Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley, turns a predictable underdog tale into a vibrant delight. Boasting a similar hyperkinetic style as Sony’s ‘Spiderverse’, ‘GOAT’ draws you into its bustling, stylised city, where animals of all shapes and sizes live, work, and play the high-intensity sport of roarball. From the city’s graffiti-lined walls, to its lush living vines in play spaces, and to its dynamic arenas that shift from jungles to ice or desert-like courts as matches progress, it is a visually stylised and exciting sight to behold.

Equally invigorating are the games themselves, which aren’t just basketball with claws and horns; instead, each of them is staged like a gladiatorial spectacle fused with streetball flair, escalating in scale, intensity and theatricality as the story progresses. Whether is it falling stalactites in the Cave or an active volcano in the Inferno or the Northern Lights in the frozen Cryosphere, there is hardly a dull moment as Dillihay ushers us from one showdown to the next.

That is in essence the charm of ‘GOAT’, a lively, fast-paced ride that wears its familiarity on its sleeve. Even though it is hardly fresh, it is quite certainly funny and heartfelt, reminding us that greatness is rarely about size or spectacle, but about heart, hustle and lifting others along the way. In turning a goat into a G.O.A.T., the film delivers exactly what it promises — an exuberant crowd-pleaser that may not rewrite the playbook, but knows exactly how to run it to winning effect.

Movie Rating:

(A slick, high-energy underdog romp that turns a punny premise into a heartfelt crowd-pleaser about finding greatness through grit and teamwork)

Review by Gabriel Chong