Dogs and Wolves

Dogs and Wolves
File:Dogs and Wolves.png Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jules Tissaud
Written by	Jules Tissaud Richard Mellish
Produced by	Jules Tissaud Homère Lauzier
Starring	Clara Martin Bjorn Karsten Ludmila Polikarpova Jean Charpieu Julia Rosenfeldt
Cinematography	Gaël Marye-Sarellano
Edited by	Valentin Leloup Markus Sorentino
Music by	Celeste Canillac
Distributed by	Deep Blue Pictures
Release dates	October 31, 2015 (2015-10-31)
Running time	133 minutes
Country	Acronius
Languages	English, French
Budget	$39 million
Box office	$2.4 billion

Dogs and Wolves is a 2015 Acronian psychological horror mystery drama film directed by acclaimed Acronian director Jules Tissaud and featuring an all-star cast starring Clara Martin, Bjorn Karsten, Ludmila Polikarpova, Jean Charpieu, and Julia Rosenfeldt. Set in Defense in the early 2000s and based on a true story, the film follows the story of Charlene Menkveld (Martin), a 24-year old widow with extreme schizophrenia who nocturnally terrorizes Defense by committing numerous murders, with friends and acquaintances almost always being the targets, but wakes up each day without any knowledge of her actions. The film is notable for its unique novelty filming techniques; including frequent montages of extremely short shots throughout the film (sometimes referred to as a hip hop montage), extremely tight closeups, and time-lapse photography amongst other unconventional techniques.

The film was lauded for its realistic depictions of different forms of drug addiction, alcoholism, and psychopathy, which lead to Martin's character's imprisonment in a world of delusion and reckless desperation that is subsequently overtaken by reality, thus leaving her as a hollow shell of her former self. Based off the true story of Suzy McJohnson, the film was an instant success, gathering universal critical acclaim and grossing $247,966,675 from its opening weekend alone.

Plot

Charlene Menkveld (Martin), an aspiring nurse pursuing her studies in a medical school, lives happily together with her fiancé in an apartment located in Defense, Acronius. Her fiancé, Mattéo Menkveld (Charpieu), is a sergeant in the Acronian Land Force, who is sent to Ségo for peacekeeping operations in the area. Shortly after his arrival in the nation, he is killed by militants in the area, and his corpse is sent back to Acronius. News of Mattéo's death devastates Charlene, who subsequently quits medical school despite formerly being one of the top students in her class. As a result of a constant depressive mood and an overall feeling of dejection, Charlene develops a serious case of clinical depression and, soon later, schizophrenia.

Financially broke and emotionally volatile, Charlene sells her apartment and moves in with her former sister-in-law, Taryn (Gaillard), who is also Charlene's good friend. Taryn takes Charlene under her wing and takes care of her, allowing Charlene to live in her house for as long as she wants while Taryn pays for her expenses. After a few days, Taryn notices Charlene's deteriorating mental health, and decides to take her out to a party with mutual friends of theirs to cheer her up. Charlene gladly accepted, although she was beginning to become unknowingly possessed by an sociopathic alter ego of hers, named "Laney", formed as a result of her worsening schizophrenia.

Charlene and Taryn head to the party, hosted at a popular and crowded club, where they encounter a number of mutual friends: Guillaume Tisserand (McLeod), Victoire Gaultier (Polikarpova), and Elias James (Lishwick) amongst others. The group enjoy themselves, but Charlene struggles to stay in reality, constantly drifting into illusionary states of mind. However, this goes mostly unnoticed by the group. Despite this, things change drastically later on in the party, when Taryn goes to the bathroom. Charlene - or, now "Laney", a murderous, sociopathic version of Charlene - follows Taryn to the bathroom, where she violently intercepts and assaults her friend, striking her in the head with a fire extinguisher repeatedly for over a minute, seriously damaging Taryn's skull. Laney then proceeds to snap Taryn's neck, definitively killing her, before returning to her group of friends.

Taryn's absence is eventually noticed, and Laney's group of friends leave the dance floor to go look for her. Taryn's body is eventually discovered in a pool of blood in the bathroom, with the letter 'L' inscribed in blood on the mirror above the corpse. Elias calls the police, and they soon arrive at the club, locking the building down in order to determine whether anybody present was linked to the crime. The head of the Defense Police Department, Franck Leclerc (Embry), notices a discreet grin tugging our of Laney's jaw, but dismisses it as drunkenness. One by one, the club patrons, including Laney and her group of friends, are inspected by the police and are permitted to leave.

Cast

• Clara Martin as Charlene Menkveld, a schizophrenic psychotic 24-year old widow and protagonist of the film
• Bjorn Karsten as Harold Sawyer, an experienced private investigator whom Charlene hires to investigate the crimes she commits
• Ludmila Polikarpova as Victoire Gaultier, Charlene's good friend and former colleague who becomes Charlene's first victim
• Jean Charpieu as Sergeant Mattéo Menkveld, Charlene's deceased husband who was killed in action while peacekeeping in Ségo
• Julia Rosenfeldt as Caroline Alessandrini, Charlene's psychiatrist
• Rolf McLeod as Guillaume Tisserand, a close friend of Charlene who eventually becomes the latter's second victim
• Stéphane Gaillard as Taryn Menkveld, Charlene's sister-in-law and third victim
• Deanne Mieir as Gaia Lazzari, a transsexual prostitute whom Charlene rapes and kills, making her Charlene's fourth victim
• Ruben Sirois as Danny Stith, a journalist reporting on Charlene's crimes who becomes Charlene's fifth victim
• Harry Lishwick as Elias James, one of Charlene's friends
• Véronique Pollard as the Defense Police Department coroner
• Luc Embry as Franck Leclerc, the head of the Defense Police Department

Reception

Critical response

• The Union Post described the film as "a haunting, elegiac experience" and "a breath of wind from the wings of madness".
• Empire Daily, the best selling newspaper and the most visited news website in the Allied Connurist States called it "a modern day masterpiece, from idea to execution".
• National Times (Östenlund-Kradowska), described it as a "masterpiece from the great minds of the Acronian film industry" however criticised that the film had no Kradowskan or Östenisch subtitles at launch in Östenlund-Kradowska, however these were later added to showings after November 1st.
• Korlsani Film Distribution Organization banned the movie from the country stating its many graphic elements and blatant showing of drug addiction was a wrong portrayal of a poor man's life, with officials stating "The movie, though generally expected for its genre, is unsuitable for audiences and should be banned abroad".