Pet (2016) Review

A man bumps into an old crush and becomes obsessed with her, leading him to hold her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works. But will his victim have a surprise for him?

Pet is an American/Spanish psychological thriller written by Jeremy Slater (The Lazarus Effect), directed by Carles Torrens (Apartment 143), and starring Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of the Rings, Lost), Ksenia Solo (Black Swan), Jennette McCurdy (2011 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards), and Nathan Parsons (Teeth).The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2016 and was released to theaters on December 2, 2016.  Reportedly, it is the lowest grossing theatrical release of 2016 with a total gross of just $70 from one theater, but should not be counted out as a viable horror film if not one of those that just barely missed this reviewer's Top 13 of 2016.

Pet is more than just a captive in a basement film, it's a psychological mind screw about love, serial killing, and dependency. What begins as a possible stalk and imprisoning of an old flame turns into something darker and more twisted. Monaghan is no stranger to being in strange situations (I Sell the Dead), but Pet is something different, and he embodies his character with the perfect amount of innocence mixed with creep to make it an interesting ride. Former Nickelodeon star McCurdy breaks free of of child innocence as our victim, er, we’ll call her ‘saved’ object of affection. The twist is in the reasons behind the captivity and how it turns on poor Seth (Monaghan). I hesitate to give away much because all advertising related to the film glosses over the captives true nature. Although, the film itself is reliant on it within the first half hour. Otherwise Monaghan’s character looks like some kind of religious nut out to ‘save’ girls for twisted reasons other than a love crossed simpleton about to be tooled. But in that statement I may have said too much already. But not really, we all know captivity films are supposed to end with a stronger female lead dominating their captor.

So without giving away much more, Pet is great love story, with a twist not so much surprising as it is shocking. The actors are pros, the story is solid despite being a tad unrealistic, and the filmmaking is polished.

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