Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Ponies

Director - Laurent Malaquais (Clean Sweep)
Starring - John de Lancie (Zombie Hamlet), Alex Tibcken, and Tim Star
Release Date - 2012
Genre - Documentary
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     January of this year marked the one year anniversary of me writing for Horror Society and April brings about my 2 year anniversary of writing reviews on my blog in one form or another. In that time I have been sent numerous films to review and nothing is more humbling than receiving one to review.  Most of my reviews are for horror films that I receive but every once in a while I will get one that is not.  That brings me to the documentary Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony.  This was a new one to me and was out of my element but I wanted to review it because that was why it was sent to me.  So after sitting on it for awhile I decided it was time to give it a go.

     This documentary follows the children's television show My Little Pony that surprisingly turned into a hit among adults.  The documentary explores the unexpected cultural impact on the adults, music, and other forms of art and expression.  The film also dives into the lives of hardcore MLP fans, also known as bronies, and how this obsession has changed their lives.  This obsession has changed many of their lives for the better but for some it has brought about ridicule and scorn.

      Like I said earlier, I am always humbled when I receive a movie to review.  The fact that someone thinks highly enough about me to give a damn about my opinion really makes me feel like my words are going unnoticed. However, when I received this one I honestly couldn't figure out why.  However, I still wanted to review it because my friends over at MVD Visual was kind enough to send it to me and honestly I am glad I gave this random documentary a chance.  I like to randomly pick a documentary to watch on Netflix regardless of the topic.  That is the point of a documentary after all.  A documentary is made to educate those that do not know the topic.  However, I hate when a documentary only gives you one side of a subject and thankfully this one does not.  This documentary gives the viewer both sides of the bronies obsession.  We get real life testimonies of how people were affected positively and negatively by the show and in both cases it is really amazing at how this show has impacted these people like so.  The documentary also does a great job at providing mountains of information to the viewer.  The team behind the documentary did a great deal of research and it shows.  Sadly, due to the subject matter not many people will be able to experience all the hard work dedicated to this film.  Overall, Bronies is a well put together documentary about a naturally recurring phenomenon involving adults and a children's television show.  Sadly, not many people will be able to appreciate this due to the subject matter.  Hell, I don't give a fuck about the television show but this is one solid documentary.  Check it out if you are in the mood for something different.