White God

filmcapsule

More of a technical achievement than a narrative one. Leans too heavily on its strange premise, to the exclusion of carefully considered social allegory (which is implied by the strangely universal hatred of mongrel dogs), real emotional catharsis (attempted via a milquetoast and thinly-sketched coming-of-age narrative), or an interesting take on genre (hamstrung by a terrible and telegraphing score).

Duncan Gray

Tickled though I am that any movie can be pitched as "101 Dalmatians meets Dogtooth", this imaginative concept (a seemingly psychic link between a girl and her beloved dog breaks as she comes of age) is a touch too shapeless, both formally and dramatically. But it certainly conjures some striking images and strangely moving moments. And good luck figuring out where to place it on the map.

El Biffo

This would be a really cute doggy movie, except for the nazi-like dogcatchers and the dogfighting and serious doggy violence. I don't think it's a good one for kids, but it still sucks you into the girl-loses-her-doggy drama, like a Disney picture, and it's almost like a mainstream film but it isn't exactly. The dogs are great performers; great doggy casting, even the doggy extras were good. Mundruczo's best so far.

MATTEO BITTANTI

Metaphors abound, but I'd rather take Mundruczo's film at face value. Like Planet of the Apes, White God expresses a sacrosanct respect for non-human animals and utter contempt for mankind. Hard to disagree.

Jason

Takes a lovely epigraph from Rilke and proceeds to spend the bulk of it's running time lifting its leg and pissing on said epigraph. Obviously this is a logistically complicated film. Too bad that it is across-the-boards awful. I am pining for the halcyon days of James Franco and the chimps. If you are interested in Hungary and dogs, do yourself a favor and read Charles Newman's In Partial Disgrace.

msmichel

Beware the dog that thinks. Staggering achievement in direction considering the lack of cgi and its authentic canine cast. However while it excels in visual marvel it lacks in scripting and therefore quickly runs out of steam. Never boring but one has time to ponder the scripts' inconsistencies and to wonder if the scriptwriter ever really had a point. The 'making of' would likely be more interesting than the film.

Matt Richards

Incredibly well realised and insane in the difficulty to produce. Mundruczo here seems to have a lot of fun poking his tongue out at genre and somehow takes a revenge flick and combines it with all the elements of a zombie apocalypse with hundreds of canines. Problem is; there's very little reason to care about any of the characters or the stakes. Spectacle over substance. 2.5 stars

André Pereira

Disgusting. No dog can do that sort of acting; you can't train a dog to be ragged around the floor. They were clearly suffering and that is unacceptable.