DANCES WITH FILMS 2026 REVIEW! Homelessness is a hotbed issue…especially here in Southern California. Rescued, the debut feature from writer-director D.J. Hale, wants you to ask hard questions before making judgments on homelessness.
Tyler (D.J. Hale) once had a promising life, a business, and someone who loved him. Then bad decisions and eventually addiction took it all away, and now he’s living on the streets of Long Beach, scraping by on cans and cigarettes. He’s clean and sober, but that’s about the only thing he has going for him. One night, Tyler is attacked beneath an overpass, and he’s saved by a stray Doberman who refuses to leave his side, no matter how hard Tyler tries to shoo him away. He names the dog Angel.
The problem with having a dog when you’re homeless is that dogs need things — not the least of which is food. Tyler shows up at a local grooming salon, hoping to find a leash and some food, with no money and no idea how to pay. The manager, Scarlett (Lindsey Shaw), could easily throw him out. Instead, she makes a deal: Tyler helps clean up around the shop while the dogs are being groomed, and she’ll feed Angel twice a day and let him sleep near the store. It’s not much, but it’s something. The plan goes well until Angel starts getting sick.
When Angel starts throwing up and won’t stop, Tyler is desperate. Scarlett steps in and takes them both to a vet, where they learn Angel has cancer — treatable, but the treatments aren’t cheap. Wanting to help, Scarlett offers to hire Tyler, a decision that could put her own job at risk. Her boss Kirby (David DeLuise) isn’t making it any easier. What started as a man and his dog trying to survive has suddenly gotten really complicated — and Tyler has to decide if he’s willing to fight for Angel…and himself, for that matter.
Angel the Doberman in a quiet moment from Rescued.
“…he’s saved by a stray Doberman who refuses to leave his side, no matter how hard Tyler tries to shoo him away.”
D.J. Hale came to this story the hard way. While driving for Uber and Lyft to keep his family afloat, he picked up a homeless man and gave him a ride to a shelter — and that simple act of kindness had a profound effect on him. It made him think about how easy it is to drive past people without seeing them. That moment became the seed of Rescued, a film built around the idea that homelessness isn’t someone else’s problem to solve. He built the film around the bond between Tyler and Angel, since the dog doesn’t know Tyler is homeless. Angel just shows up and stays. For Hale, that’s the point — that sometimes the simplest act of loyalty is what pulls a person back from the edge.
Rescued takes an approach to homelessness that you don’t often see. The news and social media spend their time pointing fingers at the government. This one asks a different question: what can we do as individuals and as a society? Tyler isn’t your typical homeless screen character either — he’s clean, sober, and willing to work hard. Hale asks us to see Tyler as a person, not a label. And yes, it helps that there’s a dog. A really cute, really friendly dog tugging at our heartstrings along the way.
Rescued shows how messy compassion actually is. It’s never as simple as just deciding to help someone. Scarlett finds that following her heart will eventually conflict with the rules at work and in society. The film doesn’t let its good intentions off the hook. Doing the right thing can still blow up in your face. As they say, “No good deed goes unpunished.” What holds it all together is the performances. Hale understands Tyler from the inside out and successfully captures his vision on film without crossing into after-school special territory. Lindsey Shaw and David DeLuise keep things grounded and real. Rescued stays true to its subject, and while it doesn’t solve homelessness, it reminds you that the cavalry isn’t coming, and that the people waiting for someone else to fix the problem might be the problem. It won’t let you stay comfortable inside your own box, and that’s exactly what it should do.
Rescued screened at the 2026 Dances with Films.
"…Doing the right thing can still blow up in your face."
