Dogtooth (18)

I really hate when people compare this garbage to Haneke... This movie is way overrated and undeservedly won a Cannes award and an Oscar nomination. It is a depressing, disturbing and boring movie that might entertain psychos dreaming of animal abuse as well as young people interested in soft porn. The director went out his way to shock the viewer, maybe because he was well aware that the retarded and pointless characters were irrelevant and boring. My bottom line after this movie and another Greek junk, Attenberg, that Greeks should start paying taxes and make better movies, or better yet, don't make any movies at all...

what kind of ending do you need - 'Eldest' makes it to a dentist, in an airport, where Christina's found a new security job and they hook up?! no, in my opinion, not knowing how it pans out provokes the viewer to ask themself some awkward questions! best bit - the rocky re-enactment of Rocky; worst bit - poor stray cat.

Darkly funny and original.

This film is like Marmite. You either love it or hate it, there's NO inbetween. I LOVED it. One of the best films I've seen this year... every last detail of the film was meticulously planned, and showed it ostentatiously, but usually that is the sign of a bad director, but in this case it just added to the feeling of claustrophobia and authoritarianism. If you watch this film hoping for fast pace action, forget it. The film's storyline may be slow, but leaves you no time to think about and analyse the deeper meaning of the film. If you hope for a justification or an underlying reason why the father keeps them under control you've missed the point completely. You should realise that the film is not ultimately about the family, the family members are merely symbols so they can be one-dimensional and there doesn't need to be a reason or a justification of the father's keeping them locked away. It is an allegory of pure control, pure mindless, reasonless control for its own sake. The ending is deliberately ambiguous again for that same reason. The different facets of control and emancipation from that control are so complex that a definitive ending would not only be superfluous but spoil the entire film. The film allegorised not just political totalitarianism of the 1984 type, like North Korea but it was also a parody of religious cults such as Hare Krishna, Philadelphia Church of God, Scientologists, Kabbalah, Mormons or the Jehovah's Witnesses who keep their members in the dark about the world, shun outside influences, have their own vocabulary where they change the definitions of words and even indoctrinate their members to police themselves and their own feelings. The acting was stiff, which again was totally appropriate and fitting for the film. I was able to connect every last detail of the film to a particular exprience in the cult that I was raised in and the main message I got from the film was the futility of totalitarian or cultic regimes and the fact that intelligent people's minds will always long to break free of control no matter how indoctrinated they are. If you've ever been a cult member, or a citizen of a totalitarian regime, this film will speak to you.

If you watch this film and say "what was that about?" or if you watch it hoping for an explanation of why the father goes to such lengths or a resolution of what happens to the older girl in the end, you've been spoon-fed by too many Hollywood movie and need to clear out your entire DVD collection, open a book and start re-training your indolent brain and sparking your lethargic imagination. An explanation or resolution would have spoilt the entire film and rendered the core message impotent.

This movie is slow and boring. There are some scenes that might shock or invoke humour, but ultimatly the plot remains pointless, questionable and unbelivable. Many veiwers will not relate to the characters and will question their motives. Annoyingly, no answers are given away in this film, leaving the veiwer to self interpret the point of this film. It remains a bizzare story that leaves the veiwer confused. The story is supposed to be more humorous than it really is, the creators of this film may have missed the mark and ended up with a disturbing contraversial peice that disapoints.

I just watched this movie and so far can't think of any movie to compare it to, not that it was amazing or outstanding just that I haven't seen one like it. It was very original and had me wondering how it was going to turn out the whole time. The trunk ending gave me a chuckle which I thought was a perfect way to end such a serious film.

A thoroughly disgusting film to watch -as entertainment goes- but also supremely effective as a psychological detonator. The oft-touted black humour is not really its forte -we have seen much better- but the acting and camera work by director Lanthimos are spot on. The father figure especially is scaringly plausible and his choice of tools for punishment -the same means that 'polluted' his family- as well as his abrupt and chillingly effective moves are, I believe, the best part of the movie. The main failing is I think the sudden and vague ending, which, although open to many interpretations, could have carried the scenario on for another few minutes with better results. The film it brought more to my mind, unlike other reviews I have come across, is One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, with its whitish, light colours and chillingly cold atmosphere. Definitely a must for anyone interested in quality movie-making.

I am confused whether or not I recommend this movie. It was perhaps the most unsettling movie I have ever seen. But what made it horrific, is why this gem is so original. My Greek partner says this movie is a parody of "over-protective" Greek parents. The ending does leave more questions than answers, but that further adds to the disturbed feeling I had throughout the entire film. After the movie, I felt like I lost my innocence. I felt unsettled, like I needed to take an anti-acid pill, and have a drink all at the same time. The day after, I had a better appreciation for the uniqueness of this movie, and especially admire the originality of the dance scene of the two sisters. Flashdance parody was brilliant. Love it.

This movie is funny, stark, entertaining and entirely plausible. Cases in which children have been isolated from the outside world and mentally manipulated abound. The father is your basic psycopath who has somehow convinced the mother that this bizarre child rearing arrangement is to the entire family's benefit due to the negative influences of the outside world. She has somehow agreed to play along but part of the mastery of Lanthimos' work is the subtlety with which he shows how this set up is starting to cause emotional strain both with the mother who is starting to have serious doubts and the eldest daughter who senses there is something very wrong. The canine references point to the fact that the father wishes to exert complete and utter control over his family much as one does with a pet.