THE STORY – An eccentric poodle breeder lures a broke college student to her remote ranch with a promise of research funding. But, as he soon learns, there’s a catch.
THE CAST – Daniel Doheny, Dot-Marie Jones, Maddie Phillips, Tanaya Beatty & Paige McGarvin
THE TEAM – Alex Goyette (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 97 Minutes
I’ve always envied horror movie actors. It feels like the ideal genre to truly play and try new things as a performer, in ways that might not work in other genres. Horror allows for outsized emotionality and bold choices that wouldn’t fit in a tender drama. Just think of how many huge, grandiose, legendary performances have come from the horror genre: Kathy Bates in “Misery,” Piper Laurie in “Carrie,” Toni Collette in “Hereditary,” and the latest addition to this canon, Dot-Marie Jones in “Breeder.”
In this gnarly, uncanny, bizarrely funny, and twisted little tale, Jones is given the chance to lean into every nutso impulse she has in the role of Patti, a champion poodle breeder. She shows up in our main character Russell’s (Daniel Doheny) life in a totally unexpected fashion. After reading a Mensa newsletter about Russell’s attempts to raise funds for a bee sustainability project he’s been working on, Patti reaches out to offer to fund his research. Despite skepticism from his fiancée (Tanaya Beatty), the flat-broke Russell sees little downside to at least hearing Patti’s pitch (after seeing her picture, he remarks, “She seems harmless, look at that fanny pack!”) and travels to her remote farm. There, he meets her hyper-obedient daughters, including Ainsley (Maddie Phillips), who seems especially interested in his scientific pursuits. Patti gives Russell a blank check, contingent on him doing something for her that she desperately needs, something troubling and truly shocking.
Writer-director Alex Goyette does an excellent job setting up Russell’s financial predicament: he’s in over his head with student loan debt, and his fiancée is anxious to start a family, which makes Patti’s extremely unusual, frankly disturbing deal seem strangely appealing. What she’s asking of him wouldn’t take much effort on his part, and it would be over quickly, but ethically, it’s a nightmare. But any viewer who glances at their watch once this deal is laid out will note that about an hour of film remains, meaning Russell’s situation is bound to get stranger and more unsettling.
“Breeder” is one of those movies that presents a predicament that many viewers will simply find unrealistic in a “Well, I would just leave” kind of way. (I certainly felt that way, especially given the specifics of what he would need to do.) But Russell’s dire financial situation is laid out realistically, and his personality is one of extreme amiability; clearly, he was raised to put his needs second to others’ in the name of good manners. Doheny’s performance emphasizes this, as Russell constantly sputters white lies and shows a twitchy, nervous physicality that reveals how far he’ll go to shrink his true thoughts and desires to please others and avoid conflict. “Breeder” is a cautionary tale about the dangers of favoring cordiality over sense, as we see Russell apologize and nervously laugh his way into a hellish scenario.
Doheny pairs well with Jones, especially when Patti’s borderline-uncivilized bluntness collides with Russell’s nervousness. Jones is excellent as a woman whose moral convictions have dug so deep over the years that she’s tunneled past sense and compassion. She personifies cold Objectivism, with her purebred ideologies, which started with her beloved poodles, seeping out beyond canines and becoming her uncompromising worldview. As such, Patti has no time for niceties or time-wasting courtesy, expressing her needs, thoughts, and opinions without hesitation or polite mitigation. Often, this leads to bizarre comedic moments, usually when she runs up against Russell’s aghast reactions to her expressions. But just as much, Jones is terrifying. Far from one-note, her Patti is emotionally unpredictable, often switching demeanor mid-scene, which Jones plays well without leaning into caricaturistic extremes. Her smile is just as unnerving as her glare. And as with Russell and Patti’s many daughters, Jones trains the audience to instinctively crave her gentleness and fear her hostility. She talks to the humans in her life as if they’re her prize show dogs, barking orders, gesturing without making eye contact, and, most disturbingly, using a sing-songy, high-pitched voice as a disarming tactic. Thanks to Jones’s incredible, intimidating, and commanding performance, it’s easy to see why Patti very nearly has every other character eating out of her hand.
“Breeder” is the kind of horror movie that doesn’t aim to frighten its audience through jump scares or gore. Instead, it’s more interested in eliciting a “WTF” reaction that’s sure to get viewers talking. Undoubtedly, its twists, turns, and disturbing developments make the film feel destined to upset the normies that are subjected to it (I can already picture such viewers panic-poking the pause button on their airplane back-of-headrest screens) and delight the horror fans who derive sick pleasure from discovering the ever-expanding limits of the imagination of sickos. It’s startling, shocking, and unapologetically explicit, while still earning unsettled laughter in its dark comedy-of-manners moments. If for no other reason, Dot-Marie Jones’s fantastic performance makes “Breeder” a must-see for anyone who loves seeing an actor truly and uncompromisingly go for it.
