DOGMAN

The director of Gomorrah returns with an incisive tale of a dog-loving reluctant criminal, featuring a Cannes Best Actor-winning performance in the title role (as well as the Palm Dog Award for the entire canine cast!)

In a desolate part of Southern Italy, Marcello runs a dog grooming business, caring for the neighbourhood pooches and raising his young daughter, Sofia. But his gentle nature is taken advantage of by his friend Simone, a hulking brute who has been terrorising local business owners. Marcello soon finds himself swept up in a criminal plan he wants nothing to do with. Could Simone be the one beast Marcello cannot tame?

Inspired by a true story, the latest film from Matteo Garrone (the 2008 Cannes Grand Prix-winning Gomorrah, MIFF 2008) is an ‘urban Western’ set in a barren seaside town that feels hauntingly post-apocalyptic. A bravura, noir-ish examination of the destructive force of toxic masculinity, it won Marcello Fonte the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes for his performance as the gentle, decent dog groomer who finds himself pushed to the extreme.

"Dogman unfolds with both thrilling style and serious moral force: it’s a sensation judged on either bark or bite." – The Telegraph