Pet (2016)
Starring Dominic Monaghan, Jennette McCurdy, Ksenia Solo
Directed by Carles Torrens
Screened at FrightFest 2016
Dog pound employee Seth (Monaghan) is a mild-mannered, sensitive social recluse who spends the majority of his time resisting human contact in favour of that of his canine wards in director Carles Torrens’ psycho-thriller, Pet. That is until he has a chance encounter with ex-classmate Holly (Solo) on the bus – and an infatuation is born.
Trawling her social media profiles, the gradually-more-unhinged-looking Seth collates information on Holly and practices his resulting pickup lines, before taking the natural next step for such a cinematic weirdo: stalking her through the streets and her place of work.
When an explosive encounter at a local bar sees Seth knocked flat on his ass by Holly’s ex-boyfriend, Monaghan’s diminutive outcast finds himself in possession of her personal diary – a treasure trove of information on all aspects of Holly’s life.
With this in hand, he sets his plan in motion – abducting and imprisoning Holly in a sealed-off, sound-proof area of the dog pound. Skirting the attentions of the pound’s ever-present security guard, Seth makes regular visits to follow through on his intentions to ‘save’ Holly from the trappings of her life, so that she may recognise his genuine love for her.
One of the most surprisingly fresh films to land in the genre in years, Pet is heavily driven not just by a script that seeks to subvert all expectations, but a pair of powerhouse performances from leads Monaghan and Solo.
Monaghan effortlessly carries the underlying sense of rage that makes for the scariest of obsessive stalkers. He genuinely feels like a man on the edge of sanity – detached from society and seeing the object of his affections as the one thing that can keep him from crossing into the abyss. This perfect note sustains the familiar build-up of Pet’s narrative… and makes it all the more impressive when writer Jeremy Slater pulls the rug out from under us.
And then it’s Solo’s time to shine, as it quickly becomes apparent that Seth may have bitten off more than he can chew with this particular young woman. Her portrayal acts as harbinger of much bigger things to come in this primarily TV actress’s career as the positions of power, authority and even expected character motivations begin to shift wildly.
To say any more would be to spoil the surprise – and, perhaps, the enjoyment of the perfectly nuanced character work at play throughout, so no more will be said.
You may go in expecting another Captivity, but Pet is playing a much grander game. The full package of its success includes incredibly assured direction by Torrens, the aforementioned performances and just how well it does with taking the conventions of torture porn and turning them on their head.
You’ll be shocked. You’ll be uncomfortable. You’ll be surprised. You’ll find your character allegiances regularly challenged. And you might be a tiny bit disappointed by the lacklustre ending.
But one thing you won’t be is unimpressed.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
