Beware of Dog

Finally, we follow Mike as he mopes around on the damp streets of NYC, basking in self-hatred and resentment. His bank account is in the red. Memories of his ex-girlfriend, who enabled Mike’s addictions while battling her own, haunt him. “Maybe you should concentrate on the people that give a s**t about you rather than the ones that wanna see you die,” his friend tells him.

Writer-director Nadia Bedzhdanova adopts an ethereal style, wherein her heroes’ thoughts blend and mesh with things they’re vocalizing, while Julian Stetter’s thumping score fades in and out like a beating pulse. Similarly, the cities blend into each other, with Bedzhdanova connecting their phone-addicted residents via rapid-fire montages. The filmmaker seems to point to how small our world has become, technology rapidly encroaching upon us, uniting but also alienating us all. Despite paying loving tribute to the three cities of her film, she manages to create a dense atmosphere of confinement. Marina’s journey is by far the most emotional and satisfying of the three, culminating in a ray of light amidst all the low-hanging clouds.

“Despite paying loving tribute to the three cities of her film, she manages to create a dense atmosphere of confinement.”

Certain scenes stand out as visually and emotionally striking: Marina having a meltdown by a swimming pool, or climbing onto a roof overlooking the Moscow cityscape; Paula shaving her head on a balcony with a picturesque view of Berlin; Mike fusing with the dankness of New York streets. Bedzhdanova also makes some odd choices that bring the narrative down. A jarring montage involving Marina and an all-female pseudo-orgy comes out of nowhere (a statement on her country’s suffocating restrictions?). The dialogue seems poorly dubbed at times, the characters’ words clearly not matching their lips – if that was intentional, to supplement the whole otherworldly vibe, then it was also misguided. The purposeful lack of connection between the three threads – or between anyone – renders the film somewhat-difficult to engage in fully.

Uneven but earnest, Beware of Dog strives to say something about the universal nature of addiction – be it to technology, alcohol, or our own inhibitions, impulses, and fears – and the importance of basic human connection in an increasingly digitized world. The fact that it even halfway succeeds is a laudable accomplishment.

Beware of Dog screened at the Slamdance 2020 Film Festival.