Dogs Don't Wear Pants

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Dogs Don't Wear Pants

2019

1h 45m

Drama

Comedy

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

30 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

After a tragic event, Juha develops an unexpected but powerful connection with a dominatrix named Mona. His dangerous addiction to suffocation will lead them both down a wild, freaky path toward emotional enlightenment.

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Critics Consensus

Dogs Don't Wear Pants will be too intense for many viewers, but for those who can take the punishment, there's pleasure in this stark drama's pain.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Film International

The success of Dogs Don't Wear Pants lies in its genuine open mindedness to sexuality which underscores its thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and humanity.

Jun 3, 2020

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

It is a serious, sometimes funny, occasionally disturbing and eventually joyful (a closing club-set scene is punch-the-air good) meditation on grief, loss and the healing power whips and chains.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 24, 2020

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Charlotte O'Sullivan

London Evening Standard

The script takes all sorts of twists. The changes of pace and mood feel natural, and even when things get heavy, it's funny. Some viewers will groan with pleasure, some pain.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 24, 2020

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

...a well-intentioned drama about a relationship forged on the edge of what society allows...

Rated: 4/5

Jun 18, 2021

Full Review

Anna Swanson

Film School Rejects

With a gnarly nail removal that the French extremity genre would be proud of and a final scene that calls to mind the work of Claire Denis, it's safe to say that this is a film best experienced first hand rather than through a narrative summary.

Jan 26, 2021

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Tom Beasley

Flickering Myth

A deliciously devilish deadpan comedy with a surprisingly sweet final note of hope.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 20, 2020

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Vanian C

A movie that slowly reels you in & destroys you with an ending that brings you back to life.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/02/23

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acsdoug D

Comedy? RT lists this as partly comedic? Really? A good story or at least a good ending could have overcome my distaste for the subject matter (or the implausible plot), but neither are present here.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I thought my best films of the year nominations were fairly conclusive until Wednesday evening when Dogs Don't Wear Pants hit me in the face like a baseball bat. Not that the film is especially violent, it's just like nothing I've seen in a long time. We follow John, who tragically loses his wife at the beginning of the film, and subsequently continues his life looking after his daughter in the most monotonous way possible. Whilst bringing his daughter to get her tongue pierced, John stumbles upon a BDSM basement, where he meets Mona, a dominatrix who he forms a connection with as he discovers a dangerous addiction to asphyxiation that gives him an emotional connection with life itself, as well as some sort of peace with the past. It's difficult to explain just how it works and how well it does so, but as I type, this is in poll position for my film of the year, and I do not say that lightly. Not for the faint hearted, but this really is a piece of work, and I say that in the absolute best possible way.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A painfully surprise! A magnetic tour de force which is not easy to see. A huge coctel of genres and textures that are not supposed to work together, but they do in an awesome, moving and deeply original way.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

guy p

Weird discovery of emotions and separate journeys through BDSM. There are a lot of things left unexplained, but the ending was great. Lack of character development through acting leaves a lot to be desired.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Marcus S

A true crapfest of a movie. Ridiculous portrayal of BDSM, boring characters, thin plot, extremely unpleasant in all the wrong ways. One of the worst pieces of Finnish cinema - which is saying a lot, since Finnish cinema is abhorrent to begin with.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/13/20

Full Review

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Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää

Director

Krista Kosonen

Mona

Pekka Strang

Juha

Jani Volanen

Pauli

Oona Airola

Satu

Tomi Salmela

Doorman

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Dogs Don't Wear Pants: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

After a tragic event, Juha develops an unexpected but powerful connection with a dominatrix named Mona. His dangerous addiction to suffocation will lead them both down a wild, freaky path toward emotional enlightenment.

Director: Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää
Producer: Aleksi Bardy, Helen Vinogradov
Screenwriter: Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää, Juhana Lumme
Production Co: Helsinki Filmi Oy, Tasse Film
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Original Language: Finnish
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 6, 2020
Runtime: 1h 45m

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