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Mar 25, 2015 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

Teenage Lili has been sent to live with her father in a city where dogs of mixed breed have been legally declared unfit for ownership. To avoid paying an enormous fine, Lili’s dad releases her faithful mutt, Hagen, onto the city streets. The heartbroken girl searches frantically for her beloved pet, who is passed through a chain of abusers, and is taught that the only way to survive in that world is to lead a violent dog uprising against their so-called masters.

Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó’s genre experiment, White God, pinballs between film types—a family drama in some moments; action, coming-of-age, or gory animal revenge film at others—in way that barely holds together, creating something akin to Milo and Otis by way of The Birds by way of I Spit On Your Grave. But it’s well-acted (even by the canine performers) and stylishly shot; there’s an urban chase scene mid-film where dogcatchers pursue Hagen through cramped apartments that would be worthy of any Bond movie. If you can make it through a couple brutal dogfights and other scenes of abuse—while no animals were harmed in the making of this movie, it’s still difficult to watch—the absolutely insane (and incredibly tense) final act is a fantastic payoff.

www.facebook.com/WhiteGodFilm

Author rating: 6.5/10