Moon Dogs

I was fortunate enough to catch this film at the 2017 Newport Beach Film Festival, and it lingered with me for days. It's no surprise it took home the Jury award for best film.

There was something ethereal about the Scottish landscapes that gave this movie a sort of quietness. The performances were so strong, with Tara Lee, Christy O'Donnell and Jack Parry-Jones (NBFF Best Actor winner) dominating throughout. Even the supporting actors, in the roles of the parents, had a powerful presence.

It would be trite to call this a coming-of-age film, but in many respects it is. The situations in which the characters find themselves create a transformation and maturing of each. Well worth the watch.

Felt like story was short. Characters with potential but not much depth. People appear out of nowhere, short clip films. But at least some good acting, beautiful views and nice soundtrack.

Nothing new. Nothing original. A predictable story with the expected ending. Therefore nothing special. Yet, I did enjoy this and there's some well worked out scenes within the unexceptional framework and the characters are both believable and likeable. A lot better than a vast majority of bigger productions. Watch with someone or with a group for a nice evening.

Watched this as I'm an admirer of the director Philip John (he's responsible for many episodes of Downton Abbey & Being Human, the latter of which I absolutely loved) so I went in to "Moon Dogs" with an open mind & an expectation that I'd enjoy the movie... So I'm really disappointed to see the low-budget indie project (the filmmaker's first feature debut) contains such a weirdly perverse, voyeuristic depiction of women throughout... And I'm not going to even try & defend such creepy portrayals because they're totally indefensible.

For a film made in 2016, it's shockingly dated & lensed entirely through the perspective of the male gaze; women exist within the narrative solely to further the development of their male counterparts & are devoid of any personality / motivations... Other than to gratify those of the opposite sex. It's a reductive, gross experience, seeing women being objectified & dehumanised... And worse still, none of those at the helm think to question the inappropriate-ness of the two brother's actions? Sure, they're meant to be young boys & juvenile (etc.) but why must that excuse their extremely concerning behaviours? Didn't the writers consider addressing the (& this is putting it mildly) moral ambiguity? I can't say I'm impressed in the slightest. It's careless & sloppy & far below the standard I expected of him.

EDIT: in an interview, the director revealed he clashed with the producers, wasn't paid for this & didn't have control over the final cut. Consequently, an additional 30 minutes of footage (material which he described as "darker") was removed without his consent - so that might explain the tonal inconsistencies / lack of emotional development, if he intended to take the narrative in a direction which was ultimately omitted.

After his work in television, Phillip John makes his feature film debut as director, and not only does he do a solid job with how he keeps things running smoothly and making the story engaging but also the film itself is a road trap well worth being on board for.

'Moon Dogs' is not completely faultless but does a vast majority of things right. It's a very good film that's almost great, it comes that close to being that. The ending agreed is a little too mawkish and in terms of back-story there isn't much. 'Moon Dogs' is also not necessarily a film to be seen for plot logic, but not in a way that's distracting that it gets implausible. There's nothing else to criticise about 'Moon Dogs' otherwise.

For low-budget, 'Moon Dogs' is very pleasing, with slick photography and stunning and evocative landscapes. Anton Newcombe's music score is infectiously memorable and matches the locations and story's tone very well.

The script is acerbically funny, at times suitably dour and at times affecting. The comic set pieces are every bit as enjoyable and deliciously eccentric, particularly with body-piercings, hallucinatory puppets and a toy keyboard.

In terms of the story, it's episodic but never dull and with its fair share of humour and pathos, admittedly succeeding better in the former.

Good performances also helps, and the two leads Jack Parry-Jones and Christy O'Donnell carry the film excellently. Strong support also from particularly a spirited Tara Lee.

Overall, very good and nimbly done. 8/10 Bethany Cox