FILM REVIEW

Young Chang

Move over Hannibal -- “Dog Food” is a real treat.

The story revolves around a young girl (Alessandra De Rossi) who loves

dogs and an elderly man (Dante Rivero) whose job throughout most of the

movie is killing dogs to cook up and sell.

He spares the girl’s pet, and the two become friends. Told in

subtitles, the film follows these two throughout the girl’s trauma of

being raped continually by her father (Ricky Davao), who also abuses his

new wife (Glydel Mercado).

The wife suffers her share of grief and eventually has a miscarriage.

By the end of the movie, she’s gone insane.

Davao’s character, in the meantime, resents and is jealous of his

daughter’s close relationship with Teban, the dogcatcher. Tensions rise

and the ending, calmly enough, reaches a shocking intensity.

One piece of advice: don’t eat any meat before watching this film.

You’ll regret it afterward.

* “Dog Food” will screen 9 p.m. Sunday at Edwards Island 7 Cinemas.