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 actors in horror movies. It feels like the most ideal type of film to get to truly play and try new things as a performer in ways that might not be right for 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. Having read in a Mensa newsletter about Russell’s attempts to raise funds for a bee sustainability project that he’s been working on, Patti reaches out with an offer to fund his research. Despite skepticism from his fiance (Tanaya Beatty), the flat-broke Russell sees little downside to at least hearing Patti’s pitch (as he remarks after seeing her picture, “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 presents Russell with a blank check that’s 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 fiance is anxious to start a family – in a way that makes the extremely unusual and frankly disturbing deal that he’s offered by Patti 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 viewers who glance at their watch once this deal is laid out will note that there’s about an hour of film left, meaning that Russell’s situation is bound to only 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 not only is Russell’s dire financial situation laid out in a realistic manner, but Russell’s personality is one of extreme amicability; clearly, he was raised to put his needs second to those of others in the name of good manners. Doheny’s performance emphasizes this, as his Russell constantly sputters white lies and displays a twitchy, nervous physicality that shows how far he’ll go in shrinking 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 simply excellent in her portrayal of a woman whose moral convictions have become so deeply dug in over the years that she’s tunnelled past sense and compassion. She’s a personification of cold Objectivism, with her purebreeding ideologies that started with her beloved poodles seeping out and 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. Oftentimes, this leads to bizarre moments of comedy, usually when coming up against Russell’s aghast reactions to her expressions. But just as much, Jones is terrifying. Far from one-note in her performance, her Patti is emotionally unpredictable, often switching her 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, dispensing gestures without making eye contact, and most disturbing of all, affecting 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. Rather, it’s more interested in eliciting a “WTF” type of 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 managing to earn unsettled laughter for its dark comedy of manners moments. If for no other reason, the fantastic performance from Dot-Marie Jones makes “Breeder” a must-see for anyone who loves seeing an actor truly and uncompromisingly go for it.
