Jacques Blanchot (Vincent Macaigne) loses everything – his wife, his job, his home. He’s increasingly alienated from the world, until a pet-store owner takes him under-his-wing. Jacques is a good, honest, simple man who cannot say “no”. He’s a paragon of mediocrity, easily manipulated, totally submissive. After his dog dies, he slowly and effectively is transformed into a dog himself.

Director/co-screenwriter and adaptor of his eponymous novel, Samuel Benchetrit came upon the idea of the film while walking his dog – people petted his dog totally indifferent to a homeless man crying in the gutter. In a world obsessed by money and power, the film is an anti-fascist allegory.

Original musical score by Richard Reed Parry of Montreal’s Arcade Fire.