EO (film)

Lore & Background

EO is a donkey working for a Polish circus, performing in an act with Kasandra, who loves and protects him. After animal rights activists help shut down the circus, EO is taken away and brought to a horse stable. He knocks over a shelf of trophies and is sent to a farm, where he seems depressed and won't eat. Kasandra visits him on his birthday, bringing a carrot muffin and saying, 'may all your dreams come true.' When she leaves, EO escapes through a fence to follow her and becomes lost. He walks through a dark forest, observes a dead wolf, and later ends up at a soccer game where his braying distracts a penalty shot. The winning team takes him to a bar, but the losing team ransacks it and beats EO nearly to death.

Reader's Guide

EO is a modern reimagining of Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar, using a donkey's perspective to explore themes of cruelty, indifference, and fleeting kindness in contemporary Europe. The film's non-human protagonist allows for a detached yet visceral observation of human behavior, from animal rights activism to industrial slaughter. Its critical reception was overwhelmingly positive: a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 85, indicating 'universal acclaim.' The film was ranked fourth on Cahiers du Cinéma's top 10 films of 2022 and placed at number 47 on IndieWire's list of the 100 best movies of the 2020s as of June 2025. Filmmaker John Waters ranked it second on his best-of-2022 list, calling it 'Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar meets Old Yeller.' The film's nomination for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film brought attention to Polish cinema and Skolimowski's late-career resurgence.

Did You Know?

• The donkey EO is portrayed by six different donkeys: Ettore, Hola, Marietta, Mela, Rocco, and Tako.
• The film won the Jury Prize at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, tying with The Eight Mountains.
• EO was shot in Poland and Italy, including locations such as Wilanów Palace in Warsaw and remote villages in Podkarpackie and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships.
• The film grossed approximately $2.3 million worldwide.

The Donkey's Journey Through a Human World

EO traces the life of a circus donkey through a series of increasingly grim settings, from a Polish circus where he performs alongside his devoted handler Kasandra, to a horse stable, a rural farm, and eventually a fur factory and slaughterhouse. The narrative is structured as a road journey, with EO passing through a dark forest where hunters with laser scopes shoot animals, an empty town where he watches tropical fish in a store window, and a soccer stadium where his braying inadvertently disrupts a penalty kick. His encounters with humans range from tender—Kasandra bringing him a carrot muffin for his birthday, a priest named Vito speaking to him as a person—to brutally violent, culminating in a bar attack that leaves him near death and a final scene where the sound of a captive bolt pistol confirms his slaughter. The film uses EO's perspective to survey the full spectrum of human-animal relations, from love to exploitation to indifference.

A Bresson-Inspired Transnational Production

Jerzy Skolimowski co-wrote, directed, and produced EO, drawing explicit inspiration from Robert Bresson's 1966 film Au Hasard Balthazar, which similarly follows an animal through a series of human encounters. The production was a transnational affair, with principal photography completed by March 2022 across Poland and Italy. Polish locations included the Wilanów Palace in Warsaw and remote villages in the Podkarpackie and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeships, while Italian scenes were shot in Rome and Sicily. The role of the titular donkey was not performed by a single animal but shared among six donkeys—Ettore, Hola, Marietta, Mela, Rocco, and Tako—allowing the filmmakers to capture a range of physical expressions. The human cast featured Sandra Drzymalska as Kasandra, Isabelle Huppert as the Countess, and Lorenzo Zurzolo as Vito, grounding the animal's journey in a web of distinct human relationships.

Cannes Triumph and Critical Acclaim

EO made its world premiere in competition at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2022, where it took home the Jury Prize in a tie with The Eight Mountains. The critical response was overwhelmingly positive: Rotten Tomatoes reports a 97% approval rating across 151 critic reviews with an average score of 8.2 out of 10, while Metacritic's weighted average of 85 out of 100 reflects universal acclaim based on 30 reviews. Cahiers du Cinéma placed the film fourth on its top ten list for 2022, and filmmaker John Waters ranked it second on his personal best-of list, comparing it to a meeting between Bresson's Balthazar and Old Yeller. By June 2025, IndieWire had included EO at number 47 on its list of the 100 best films of the 2020s so far, confirming its lasting resonance within contemporary cinema discourse.

Legacy, Release, and Lasting Resonance

Following its festival success, EO was submitted by Poland as its official entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, earning a nomination. The film found a wider theatrical audience through a limited U.S. release by Janus Films on 18 November 2022, grossing approximately $1.1 million in North America and $1.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total near $2.3 million. Its home-video afterlife was elevated by a Criterion Collection VOD release on 23 February 2023, signaling the studio's recognition of the film's artistic significance. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes captures the film's lingering emotional weight, describing it as a stubborn, memorable drama that refuses to let go of the audience even after the end credits have finished rolling.