Animal Room on AllMovie

Neil Patrick Harris and Matthew Lillard star in writer/director Craig Singer's violent tale of rehabilitation gone horribly awry. When high school student Arnold Mosk (Neil Patrick Harris) is busted for using drugs, he's immediately placed in an experimental isolation program known as "The Animal Room." "The Animal Room" is a rehabilitation center where the rules of normal society don't apply, a kind-of lawless clubhouse inhabited by the most dangerous and disturbed youth imaginable. When Arnold shows up in "The Animal Room," sadistic gang leader Doug Van Housen (Lillard) immediately targets the frightened newcomer for torment. Doug is the kind of kid who's just too far gone to care what society thinks of him, and he places precious little value on human life. Should Arnold remain in "The Animal Room" he will almost certainly die. Now, it's up to Arnold's childhood friend Gary - a popular student and talented athlete - to break his old pal out of the controversial treatment program before the situation turns deadly.