Review by
Blair MacBride
Directed by: George Jaques
Starring: Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn Francis, Nicholas Pinnock, Ruby Stokes, Hattie Morahan
Ah the road trip feature, often providing such an opportunity to dive
deeper into the characterisation of protagonists, to see what makes them
tick and why they've ended up where they have. Less like the action of
Thelma and Louise, Black Dog nevertheless packs an emotional punch.
Written by Jamie Flatters and George Jaques, this coming of
age drama centres around Nathan (Flatters) and Sam (Keenan Munn-Francis). The former is a brash, rough around the edges type who has clearly
been through some traumatic and life-shaping experiences in his past. The
latter is the much more demure and quiet of the two, struggling with
significant mental health issues that affect his daily life.
The story sets off with Nathan departing the care system in London. Having
become "of age" to make his own choices, he leaves his home in an attempt
to find his long lost sister in Scotland with nothing but an old address
and phone number constantly going to voicemail at his disposal. Sam, too,
has his own problems; timid, suffering from anxiety and an eating
disorder, he decides to visit his Mum - or so we think - in Newcastle.
The two individuals originally have their own plans on making the journey,
but after a chance encounter where Nathan saves Sam from getting mugged in
a Brixton alleyway, the pair are fortuitously hurled together for the trip
North. Inevitably, as the two travellers make their way up the motorway
passing beautiful scenery (the likes of which cityslicker Nathan has never
seen), the boys begin to eke out one another from their built up
interiors; start to bond via mutually experienced vulnerability from
previous troubling times; and ultimately reignite a meaningful friendship.
With Black Dog's story being pivotal on performances to carry its material, newcomers
Flatters and Munn-Francis deliver some poignant portrayals of Nathan and
Sam, with each one having the natural ability to ride the roller coaster
of emotions created by Jaques' direction. Indeed, both young actors have a
duty to convey the severity of their character's poor mental health, and
Flatters and Munn-Francis deal with each relevant niche very well.
Flatters, for example, focussing on Nathan's longer term struggle with
abandonment shaping the person he'd become, but also Munn-Francis with
Sam's shorter term, more reactionary ongoing battle with loss and the
impact of his unhealthy coping strategies.
On a separate note, this film has a majestic composition to accompany the
stellar performances. Blair Mowat's ability to put together an
exquisite score really elevates a number of Black Dog's sequences, adding levels of grace, warmth and sadness at the most
fitting of times. Just as it is musically powerful, so too are vast
panning shots of Britain's countryside gorgeous to the eye. Not only that,
but Hamish Anderson's cinematography in more intimate moments
offers greater sincerity to particular scenes.
Despite these flashes of brilliance, Black Dog does suffer
from its own attempts to deal with so many complex emotional themes; with
a run time of just over 90 minutes, there's a lot to communicate in such a
short period of time. Sequences with great significance could have been
given more time to develop naturally and, on occasion, certain crucial
aspects of the plot almost feel sprung on the audience. On the same note,
while different emotions are performed well by the film's actors, the
roller coaster ups and downs are too frequent, making each high and low
hard to process before the next comes along. This creates a lack of space
for the story to fully deliver on its important themes of grief and
isolation.
Overall, Black Dog doesn't have too much wrong with it for a
project of its ilk. As a labour of love and debut feature for Jaques, it's
a great first thrust onto the scene, harking back to the coming-of-age
stage in life with which any audience member can resonate. That said, it
just doesn't quite feel there technically due to a lack of natural depth
in, and not enough time spent on, some of its more critical plot points.
