Director Ben Tan’s short film Dog has to be one of the strangest things I have seen in recent times. I am not saying this as a criticism, by the way. Rather, this is more of an observational statement. The gorgeous black-and-white short film opens with loud party music. It is a rave party that our protagonist Summer is attending. But she has one issue. We see her arguing with her mother in a scene that intercuts with the party. Summer’s mother wants her to take her younger sister, Lex, along with her as she has some errands to run. Lex is blind, which makes her a burden for Summer. And people usually do not take their blind sisters to rave parties. Unfortunately, Summer fails to talk her way out of the situation no matter how hard she tries. So we find Lex and Summer at the party. Lex seems to be enjoying it, from the look on her face.
After a while, we see Summer, Lex, and three of Summer’s friends are chilling outside. Summer hasn’t enjoyed the party much. She is also very protective of Lex and does not quite like her junkie friends talking to her. One of these friends, Tommy, wants to play a strange game. He wants Lex to touch and feel his face and rate it. Then he wants to do that to her as well. Summer is absolutely against the idea, but Lex seems to be game. So Tommy goes ahead and lets Lex feel his face before doing the same to her. And he does take off Lex’s dark glasses before doing it. A very livid Summer does not let it go on and leaves with Lex. In case you’re wondering if I have spoiled everything for you, let me assure you that I have not. Quite naturally, I am also not going to tell why the short is titled Dog. But I can say that the title is very fitting.
Dog is a short film where a lot of things are happening that you cannot see, which is ironic considering one of the two main characters just happens to be visually challenged. Adolescence has to be the central theme of this story. But Lex, she can’t have the same experience as others do due to her disability. That does make her feel like a burden, even though her sister (and hopefully, mother too) loves her. Lex finds it really hard to deal with. Quite naturally, going to the club with her sister provides her a sense of normalcy. It also gives her the opportunity to spend time with Summer, whom she looks up to. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Summer is the bridge to the outside world for Lex. Also, Lex finds Tommy’s game exciting because it does fulfill her desire to be touched. For a young adolescent teenager, desire is a very common thing. Unfortunately for Lex, exploring that is never easy, and her future has no light either. So she grabs every opportunity that she gets.
However, all of this puts Summer in a difficult position as well. Because she is the able one, it is her duty to look after Lex. Not that she does not intend to do that, but Summer’s parents probably forget that she has a life as well. It might seem like she is at fault for getting mad at her mother for dumping Lex on her, but any young adult is probably going to react the same. During the argument, Summer mentions one very important thing to her mother—that one shouldn’t have kids, that they can’t take care of. The mother obviously doesn’t receive that well and plays the ‘you are an adult’ card (Summer is nineteen, actually), but Summer is not wrong here, in my opinion. From a moralistic standpoint, her throwing tantrums over taking her blind sister to a party might seem like bratty behavior, but the short does make you realize there’s more to it. Over the course of thirteen minutes, it helps you see Summer from a sympathetic perspective. But you also get to feel Lex’s struggle and sympathize with her.
I cannot possibly tell you anything about the title, but yes, there is a dog at some point of the story, and the name does come from there. But the narrative shifts feel like a bit jarring at that juncture of the movie. I am nitpicking here, but the film could have been beneficial if it headed in another direction. The technique of a pivotal incident bringing out the emotion of the main characters is quite common, and Dog does take full advantage of that. I feel if this was a feature film, the story could have breathed better. I am quite certain that the director has a plan to properly tell the story over a standard two-hour time frame. It would be a waste if that doesn’t happen, considering the amount of promise Tan has shown in thirteen minutes.
It would not be right on my part if I signed off without saying a word about the fantastic casting of Dog. Not only have actors Alexis Felix, Natasia Koulich, and Alexander Carstoiu performed so well as Summer, Lex, and Tommy, respectively; Alexis and Natasia look very similar to each other. The resemblance is so uncanny that I initially thought the same actor was playing both parts, until I realized that it cannot be because Summer and Lex are not twins and have a three-year age difference. In the press material that was given to me for reviewing purposes, I found out that director Tan based the story on his own experiences growing up in Los Angeles as a teenager. I find that genuinely fascinating and would love to see more work by Tan in the future for sure. In the meantime, I urge you all to give a watch to Dog if you have the means to see it.
