Danielle Baynes’s The Dog is a powerfully effective glance at the mental health struggles of veterinarians. Kate Walsh is devastating as our beleaguered vet in this short film that you will not be able to shake from your mind—utterly fantastic.
A sick dog mysteriously appears in the clinic of an overworked vet and tries to negotiate their own death. Over the course of one night at a 24-hour clinic, struggling veterinarian Claire (Kate Walsh) contends with the pressures of her shift and a persistent inner turmoil.
As an owner of a couple of pets, the opening half of The Dog is probably the hardest few minutes of a film that I have experienced in a long time from a purely emotional standpoint. The process of saying goodbye to your pet or family member is as difficult as possible. It’s inescapable; at one point, far too soon in your mind, you will have to say goodbye, and Christ on a bike, Danielle Baynes, puts us through the ringer. We see not only the pain that the family goes through when they have to let their pet go. But with those who have to do it themselves. It’s a part of the sad process you don’t overly think about. How do those administering the concoction that finally eases your pet’s pain feel while doing it?
If it is anything like what we see here with Justin Amankwah and Kate Walsh, it’s just as brutal. Death is sadly part and parcel of being a veterinarian, and yet you never hear anything about the mental health toll their job will have in comparison to human doctors and nurses. In fact, if you do a bit of digging into the subject, it is a startling and concerning world that opens up to you. Here in Baynes film, she puts a sharp focus on these struggles in a devastatingly potent manner by forcing her audience to be as understanding and empathetic as possible.
From top to bottom, The Dog is fantastic; at all times, we are trapped with Claire, unable to look away at what she has to do and what she is going through, each death hitting her more and more until that unbearably impossible weight is too much too keep on top of. Yet, it isn’t just the deaths that dig deep into her soul; it’s the punishing reviews, the responsibility of being a teacher to trainee vets. It’s just too much, and you can quickly see why she would struggle if there is no support present for her.
Kate Walsh blows you away as Claire. From the first moment all the way to the last, she quietly shatters you emotionally. Often seeing her character on the cusp of cracking, she is a bomb ready to go off and plays it so terrifically well. In a largely silent role, she says so much physically in her performance that any extra dialogue wouldn’t be needed. Justin Amankwah plays Claire’s trainee, Joe, down to a tee. Suppose you have been around a trainee vet. In that case, you will relate massively to his performance, the nervousness, the slight trepidation in how to talk to the families of his patients and the realisation of how load-bearing the job is on your mental health.
There are many inspired moments throughout the film, and having the mysterious dog play the role it does is a fabulous bit of work. It gives us an extra bit of understanding of Claire’s situation, and while you already felt for her, it fully emphasises how private her struggle is. She is there in the darkness alone with her inner demon when she desperately needs to have a light turned on to show her all is not lost.
The Dog is one of those films that will be a difficult watch, especially for animal lovers, one for seeing the pain of watching those last moments with a loved one on screen in such a realistic manner and for seeing the toll it takes on not only you. Veterinarians are underappreciated, but that should change with films like The Dog. This short story deserves to be seen by as many people as possible; it’s just that effective. You can tell that Bayne could have dived into more of the stressors that vets go through; however, by zoning in on one area and giving us more of a glance at a fictional example of some of their struggles, it makes for just as an impactful viewing. Unmissable.
★★★★★
The Dog will be playing at HollyShorts Film Festival on August 15th. Tickets and further information is available here.
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