Directed By: Ben Leonberg
Written By: Ben Leonberg and Alex Cannon
Cinematography: Wade Grebnoel (Ben Leonberg)
Editor: Curtis Roberts (Ben Leonberg)
Cast: Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman, Larry Fessenden, Stuart Rudin, Hunter Goetz, Abya Krawcheck
A loyal dog moves to a rural family home with his owner, only to discover supernatural forces lurking in the shadows. As dark entities threaten his human companion, the brave pup must fight to protect the one he loves most.
That’s why I’m continuously gets on one’s nerves
it keeps higher elements throughout and then tries at times more to be a mystery before dragging itself into more supernatural scenes with a metamorphosis or werewolf tail brewing that ultimately ends up as a red herring
The film is stylish and creative, especially and trying to conceal the lead actors or really any humans faces or identity, even though it tries to hint at but rides that way as one of the more interesting aspects of the film.
The film is mercilessly short, but still feels too long like an expanded short film that wants to say more though truly doesn’t need to
For most of the film, nothing is entirely answered and throughout we are giving part information but half the time we’re left wondering not only what is going on but what exactly is the mystery? We are trying to figure out or solve.
The film is mostly from the dog point of view, though not in the exact way, it might be expected like in the film WHITE GOD. Though it does help inspire suspense.
As you watch you notice so many ways, this story could’ve gone and probably better than settling. It seems for a haunted house story or some kind of ghost story. At one point, I thought it was going to be a murder mystery has to who killed the owner of the dog unfortunately it doesn’t go there.
Instead of times, it feels like a student film with a good budget. It reminded me of Skinner Mark a film. A lot of people enjoyed that I found frustrating and uninteresting so that this film almost feels like the case of the Emperor‘s new clothes.
The filmmaker was smart and making the audience fall in love with the dog as the protagonist showing loyalty to an owner, who might not deserve it, and instantly the audience is on the dog side as even when people saw the trailer for the film. The number one search seemed to be does the dog die so here you have the audience in the palm of your hand, instantly sympathetic and caring. That also in its own way feels manipulative.
What the film has going for it is it’s inventiveness.
Grade: D
