Who doesn’t love a dog? They are cute, cuddly, and loyal to whoever is willing to feed them and give them attention. Well, sadly there are some individuals who find these animals repulsive, or, from time to time, they lose their cool and aren’t really sure how to treat their four-legged friends. Dog is the story of a teenage girl (Joanne Hill) and her boyfriend (Freddie Cunliffe) and their sexual journey together. When the young girl goes out against her mother’s wishes and her boyfriend’s interaction with a homeless dog is off putting, she must reevaluate her life and the decisions that she makes.
I’m warning you right now that if animal cruelty is something that you can’t bare to watch, Dog will be a difficult film to get through. While it seems clear in my description of the film, I want to be even more abundantly clear here: Dog will make you sick to your stomach if you can’t watch animals get hurt. Please proceed with caution.
With that being said, Writer-Director Andrea Arnold’s decision to use a dog as the primary vehicle by which emotion and pain are expressed is brilliant. Oftentimes, people react more appropriately to animals being harmed than to humans–and Arnold appeals to that aspect of human nature. Viewers aren’t really sure of where Dog is going, but once the titular dog enters it becomes clear the intentions of Arnold and the way in which viewers are meant to feel about the film as a whole. It’s not to say that no one cares about a young couple traversing the rocky terrain of sex and all of its pieces, but that doesn’t compare to how passionately the majority of individuals feel about animals, specifically dogs. Arnold understands this, and she uses that knowledge, and her inclusion of a dog, to make viewers care about the couple on screen.
I hate the word “manipulate.” I hate the idea of manipulating someone into doing or thinking something, but Arnold does this thing in a smooth and suave fashion. While she is, in some ways, tricking viewers into thinking something specific or feeling a certain way about her story throughout Dog, she does it in a way that will allow those manipulated individuals to overlook this aspect and fall in love with the content and the message. A director’s delivery can turn viewers off, but her subtly-aggressive approach is almost welcoming, and the world becomes immersed in this world of sexual tension and confusion as a result.
Like Arnold’s other early films, she focuses on these themes of commonality and discomfort. Her subjects in Dog are accessible, understandable, and completely typical. They appeal to the masses, and viewers everywhere will be able to relate to something present in Dog. Furthermore, like those other films, films like Milk and Wasp, Arnold aims, to a degree, to make her viewers uncomfortable. There is a never ending sense of unease present throughout Dog, but that sentiment resonates with viewers because it’s real and perfectly reflective of the real world.
Dog attacks viewers and forces them to face the harsh realities of the real world. It will absolutely make you uncomfortable, potentially even sick, and that all comes from Arnold’s brilliant understanding of people and what makes them tick. Arnold blends the usual and unusual in Dog, and viewers everywhere will be able to appreciate her story as a result.
Written & Directed by Andrea Arnold.
Starring Joanne Hill, Freddie Cunliffe, Veronica Valentine, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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