It’s fine to be reminded how terrible humans are but when you’re confronted with that reality through the eyes of a helpless, wordless animal it’s particularly excruciating. The travails of this adorable, guileless donkey are absolutely heartbreaking, and are likely to induce a palpable despondency about the state of humanity. EO’s story is commendably raw and unsentimental (except perhaps for a truly strange detour into a romance novel plot set in an Italian villa?) but at times you might wonder if EO’s pain and suffering are really intended as a scaffolding for director Jerzy Skolimowski’s strikingly virtuosic filmmaking conceits. It’s impressive how Skolimowski is able to weave together this narrative from little more than scraps of context, and he fashions it beautifully, to boot. It’s just that it’s perhaps too aesthetically luxuriant for the brutality of EO’s existence. Still, there’s no denying the achievement in this richly humanitarian film.