First Reaction to Luc Besson’s ‘Dogman’

Back in February, there was a report that Luc Besson’s “Dogman,” starring the always-excellent Caleb Landry Jones, “wowed buyers” at Berlin’s European Film Market, where it was screened for a select few.

Gregoire Melin, founder of Kinology, who is handling sales on the film, had this to say about the overwhelming reactions the film received from buyers:

“We hosted only one private screening of the completed film and buyers were stunned, they all came out saying that it was Luc Besson’s best film to date, his most mature movie and some even called it a masterpiece,”

The positive word of mouth seemed to have been more than enough for the film to move its April release date in France to a launch in the fall, probably at this coming September’s Venice Film Festival.

“Dogman” is said to be reminiscent of Besson’s darker, earlier films, notably “Leon: The Professional,” “The Big Blue,” “La Femme Nikita” and “Subway.” It’s set to be his first film since 2019’s “Anna.”

The film was test-screened last week, and, although this reaction is mixed, it sounds delightfully deranged and something I’ll be looking out for on the fall festival circuit:

Dogman was odd, tonally all over the place and very much trying to be like “Joker” in how it presents it’s broken protagonist as some sort of vigilante. The wildest aspect is that he cross-dresses as a form of self-therapy to overcome the trauma of his father’s abuse and being locked in a dog kennel for years. As an adult he forms a close bond with canines as they assist him to help take down a local crime boss. There’s a little too much of everything and I would have preferred a straight up action movie as opposed to a action/comedy/drama/queer adjacent movie.

Landry Jones stars as Douglas, a man who was abused as a child by his violent father and viciously thrown to dogs. Instead of attacking him, the dogs came to protect him and became his allies. On a journey to heal from childhood trauma and physical injury, Douglas seeks to find his own path, even if it means bending societal rules, gender and going overboard with his love of dogs. The trailer, which was teased at the Paris event, show Landry Jones transforming into a woman, and embracing the part, both emotionally and physically.