The Horror Show
Pet
by Carles Torrens
I didn't really know what to expect from Pet. I went into it with just the trailer to give me a hint of the premise and I thought I was in for a run of the mill “obsessive boy kidnaps girl” type of story. I should know better than to trust trailers.
We start off getting to know Seth, portrayed by Dominic Monaghan. He's a hard worker in an animal shelter. He cleans kennels and feeds the dogs. It's obvious that Seth is a gentle person who loves animals. It's also obvious how awkward he is in social settings. One day, by chance, he runs into a girl that he went to high school with. Her name is Holly, played by Ksenia Solo, and she doesn't remember Seth at all. They have a small exchange about Holly wanting to be a writer, because she's always writing in this journal, but she's actually a waitress. Holly says it was nice to see him and bolts before Seth has a chance to ask her out.
Seth begins to stalk all of Holly's social media. He makes a list of her likes and dislikes and becomes obsessed with doing everything that Holly would ever want. Seth makes a plan to ask Holly out, and when I say make a plan, I mean a plan. He rehearses every possible scenario, practices every word. It is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever witnessed.
Seth shows up at the diner Holly works at. He tries to be smooth and use a line that she said on the bus about being a writer in a waitress disguise. Holly doesn't remember him at all, so again, painful to watch. He tries to invite her to a Ben Folds concert and Holly shoots Seth down fast and hard. Any normal man would move on, but not Seth. The next day, he sends the biggest array of roses anonymously to Holly. Of course, she thinks they're from her dirt bag ex. Holly goes to the bar her ex is bartending at and tells him that it's over and to stop sending her flowers. Seth shows up and confronts Holly again. She still doesn’t remember him. Seth and Holly get in a scuffle, she loses her journal, they storm into the bar. Holly tells Bartender boyfriend that Seth grabbed her. Beefcake beats the Hobbit to a pulp and kicks him out.
Seth finds Holly's journal and reads it all night. He starts to formulate a plan on how to kidnap Holly. He finds an abandoned part of the animal shelter. He sets up a cage and even goes as far as to test paralyzing agents on himself. Seth manages to actually kidnap Holly and get her into the hospital past the security guard and into the cage.
By this time I had tuned out a little. It was just the same old kidnap a girl and make her love me story. She'll get out and it'll turn into a revenge flick. It's so obvious! It was not and I was wrong. This movie changed gears. I am talking a grade A, WTF moment like no other. It happens so fast that it's almost jarring. One moment we're on the whole kidnap thing and WHAM! New story line! It snapped me out of my boredom fast. I looked at the time stamp and I swear it is right at the half-way point. It's almost like the filmmakers planned it that way. I hope it was intentional because it was perfect. I don't want to spoil it, that's how awesome it is.
Pet is not without its flaws. Dominic Monaghan has a horrible American accent. Holly is a very unlikable character at times. A dog dies. There's a scene near the end that is very long and drawn out to the point I was on Reddit until Holly stopped talking. I can't really tell you what she said, just that it was very whiny. Other than the few things here and there, I actually enjoyed the twist in the middle enough to overlook anything else. Pet is definitely worth a watch!
Robin Thompson, HMS
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