Review of Dogtooth (2009) by Jesse O — 23 Jul 2012

You know if you had told me prior to this film that this was a coming-of-age story, I'd have laughed in your face. But sure as shit, that's exactly what this movie was. An unsettling and quite disturbing one, but that's exactly what it is, a darkly comic coming-of-age flick.

It's definitely an excellent film at that too. Definitely reminds me of some of Haneke's work, and apparently Giorgios Lanthimos is a big fan of his, so his influence is apparent and there's also a very surreal, yet realistic at times, touch to the proceedings, both visually and just the way the movie is presented.

The good thing about the film is that while not a lot appears to be happening, at least for the more impatient viewers, there's something about the way the movie is shot that is suspenseful and it makes you want to keep watching.

The performances certainly play a big part of the film's success. The performances themselves are mostly minimalist, but it, again, makes the film more believable and it makes the climactic act that much more memorable.

The comedy is tremendously deadpan, hell it'll go straight over the heads of some people. So yea this movie is pretty damn great, memorable, unique and funny. Unfortunately those with Netflix only have until tomorrow to watch this, so queue that shit up quickly.