Strays
Directed by Josh Greenbaum
- comedy
- adventure
The story
When Reggie is abandoned on the mean city streets by his lowlife owner, Doug, Reggie is certain that his beloved owner would never leave him on purpose. But once Reggie falls in with Bug, a fast-talking, foul-mouthed stray who loves his freedom and believes that owners are for suckers, Reggie finally realizes he was in a toxic relationship and begins to see Doug for the heartless sleazeball that he is.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated street-level comedy: sunlit city blocks, bold primary colours and wide, brightly lit frames that make the urban grime look almost cartoonish. The camera mostly stays eye-level and steady, with plenty of handheld energy during the chase-and-scramble sequences, and the dog's-eye point of view turns ordinary sidewalks, dumpsters and backyards into a playground of smells and hazards. The score is bouncy and rock-tinged, pushing the action along without much room for stillness. Vibe: raucous, scruffy and irreverent, with a warm streak underneath. It suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a group watch, or a sit-down with someone who wants to laugh out loud rather than be soothed. Pacing is brisk and jokey, and the emotional arc follows a loyal pup slowly recognising that a neglectful owner was never worth his devotion, while he finds a rough-edged found family in a streetwise stray. Intensity is high on crude humour: frequent profanity, sexual innuendo, drug-adjacent gags, and a graphic bodily-humour moment, with some slapstick mishaps and animal peril played for laughs rather than real menace. Not gentle. Made for adults who enjoy anarchic, foul-mouthed R-rated comedy and talking-animal absurdity.
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