Dog Alone (Cão Sozinho) by Marta Reis Andrade (2025): Film Review - Animafest Zagreb

Coming home is not an easy business. In the absorbing Portuguese animation short 'Dog Alone' (Cão Sozinho) by Marta Reis Andrade, a Portuguese/French co-production (BAP Animation Studios/IKKI Films), that premiered at the 2025 edition of Animafest Zagreb, we experience the main character's effort to reconnect through the story of a howling dog.

Starting from a crude farewell scene in the UK (one of the few interior scenes in the film), Marta walks via walking silhouettes before she boards to her family home. In the courtyard, a place for family grouping, she can see her grandpa and his shattered glasses (the multiple scratches come as if made out of needles); the grandpa won't talk, but all the other family members (5 in total, like the 5 original dogs of the story) will brief her about a dog tragedy.

Andrade, having studied in Portugal, Czech Republich (FAMU) and the Royal College of Art (her intimate but adventurous 'Come to Me' is her first year film, with the BAFTA-shortlisted 'The Village Game' to follow) is the perfect carrier of a story that needs multiple story planes to operate. Alternating between wide shots and close-ups when in danger, she uses her simply drawn but memorable character designs (our favorite: Tono's elongated legs and shoes) to express curiosity and interest (while sometimes, pointed angles are a sign of danger).

Drawing from the same magical realism setting of Regina Pessoa's film, Andrade has a valuable collaborator in the music department (music by Grillo); music here makes all the drama (and the resulting agony) pronounced, not just stated.

This is a film that details in a sharp way the difficulties of homecoming -and reconnecting. Far from a forced sentimentality, the film earns its expected empathy -and gives us a vivid portrait of the essential family experiences to be simply put back into the surface.

Watch the 'Dog Alone' trailer:

Director: Marta Reis Andrade
Production: BAP - Animation Studios; IKKI FILMS | Screenplay: Marta Reis Andrade | Sound: Bernardo Bento | Music: Grilo | Editing: Inês Munhoz, Alberto Remelhe | Animation: Leonor Pacheco, Diana Peixoto, Vitor Hugo Rocha, Marta Reis Andrade, Milly Yencken, Beatriz Maia, Inês Teixeira

'Dog Alone' had its world premiere at the 2025 Animafest Zagreb, 2-7 June.

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