We took a week off last week with the Memorial Day holiday here in the States, but we are back! This week for Mubi Monday we have an independent film that blurs the lines between story and reality with…Dogleg (2023).
Title: Dogleg
Director: Al Warren
Released: April 13, 2023 (limited theatrical)
Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes
Available to stream: exclusively on Mubi (don’t have Mubi? Here’s a month for free!)
Alan (Al Warren) is a director who has been working on a film for roughly five years. His fiancé, Julia (Angela Trimbur) has to travel to New York on a business trip, leaving Alan at home and responsible for their dog, Roo.
Unfortunately for Alan, he’s also obligated to go to a gender reveal party for some mutual friends that he considers to be more of Julia’s friends than they are mutual friends. He and Roo head to the party and the host informs Alan that Roo can be off leash as their backyard is fenced in. Thinking nothing of it, Alan lets Roo roam free as he mingles and waits for the gender reveal. However, when they get around to the reveal, it is underwhelming. The reveal is that it’ll be twins and there is no mention of the genders.
Looking to make his escape, Alan wanders off to find Roo so they can both go home. Besides, Alan has a shoot that night for his film. Although, despite the fact that the yard is fenced in, Roo is nowhere to be found. Not in the house, the yard, or even down in the creek.
Trying not to panic, Alan decides to set off into the city streets of Los Angeles to find Roo, hopefully in time to still make his shoot that evening. When he comes up empty-handed, he decides that he’s going to set. He needs to have some sort of control of the day and on set is apparently the only space he can obtain that feeling.
Well, Alan is in for a rude surprise. Arriving on set, quickly realizes that chaos is just the theme of the day. There isn’t anything about his film shoot that he can say he has under control. Things are spiraling out all around him. Roo is still nowhere to be found, his shoot is a mess, and it all is starting to blend together.
At this rate, will he ever finish his film?
Furthermore, will he be able to find Roo before Julia returns from New York?
It wouldn’t be shocking to hear that Dogleg (2023) isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If you’re looking for coherent narratives that tie everything up with a neat and fancy bow, well, you’ll need to keep looking. However, if you’re wanting something that could be classified under “good weird”, look no further.
Everyone wants to be able to feel as-if they have some level of control over their lives. Well, Al Warren shows us that no matter how hard you try to keep a grip on things, things happen. Better yet, no level of preparedness can guarantee you an ounce of control. Rather, what you have is a false sense of control that will inevitably show itself as a mirage.
Warren is able to sprinkle in smart humor while also keeping you engaged despite the absolute chaos that is unfolding. Yes, there are moments where you aren’t quite able to tell what is “real” and what is part of Alan’s film. But at the same time, the uncertainty of it all helps us as the viewer feel the overwhelming loss of control that has become Alan’s day.
All in all, Dogleg (2023) is exactly my kind of quirky and “weird”. This happened to be Al Warren’s feature debut as both a writer and director and I, for one, will be looking forward to what he has in store for us next.
Well, now it’s your turn. If you’ve seen Dogleg (2023), I want to hear what you thought of it.
Tell me all about it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!
As always, you can keep up with everything else I’ve been watching by following me on Letterboxd.