Is Trial of the Dog a good movie? Here are the first audience thoughts on this comedy by Laetitia Dosh!

In “Dog Court” actress Leticia Dosh (seen in the films “Battle of Solferino”, “Our Battles”, “Acid…”) goes behind the camera for the first time. A desire that came from a desire to see a loose, unsettling comedy at the movies that talks about important things and that constantly changes tone. After hearing the true story about the trial of a dog accused of repeated bites, the young woman thought it was the right time and specified it in the press kit. “I felt that this was my comedy: absurd, disturbing and asking a lot of questions..”

Presented in the Un Certain Regard selection at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, The Trial of the Dog was awarded the Palme d’Or for its performance of Cody, the Griffon Cross at the heart of the feature film.

Also starring Letizia Doche, François Damiens, Pierre Deladonchamp, Jean-Pascal Zade, Anne Dorval, Mathieu Demme and Annabella Moreira, the film follows Avril, a lawyer with a penchant for lost cases who promises to win her next trial. But when Dariush, a client as desperate as her case, asks her to protect her faithful companion Cosmos, Avril’s faith takes over. Then begins a trial as unexpected as it is sensational: the trial of the dog.

What do the audience think about Laetitia Dosch’s feature film?

Dog Trial It has an average rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars from 136 ratings and 58 reviews at the time of writing. For Yann A. it is “Back to school movie. It’s a very refreshing first movie. Funny, but not only that. Leticia Doche, Francois Damiens, Jean-Pascal Zade and Cody play a great part. The trial of the dog may seem crazy, but the story. Cody is really charming.

For Internet user Cocorosie3, it is “The film is both exciting and funny. Magical… a great moment of emotion. This is one of the most beautiful films of 2024 for me. What it says about the condition of the animal is important.“

“Destructive and funny”

Marine C explains that for her The Trial of Dog is a “Absolute favourite. Laetitia Dosch’s first film is a marvel; from laughs to tears, from emotions to reflections, this utterly brilliant comedy is a philosophical and poetic tale with hilarious gags. Great comedies are very rare! The Trial of the Dog will undoubtedly be there. Mark cinema history, all the actors are brilliant, Laetitia Dosch is a gem, Jean-Pascal Zade and Francois Damiens are modern-day Fernandez and Bourville, and Bertrand Bellin’s song will complete your attention. Yes, Laetitia Dosch creates a masterpiece.

Francois Max Zippel, for his part, also appreciates the film’s message about the animal’s condition: “Far from being a simple comedy (although very funny), this film very intelligently questions our relationship with life and the dominance of one species over another, or even one gender over another.”

Traversay1 from ClubAlloCiné gives it a rating of 3.5 and writes: “Laetitia Dosh is crazy. Total. This is what makes him fascinating in the roles he has played so far. The impression is largely confirmed by his first feature film as a director, The Trial of a Dog. A crazy and crazy film that pushes the absurd to the limit and causes uncontrollable laughter, provided you are sensitive to some humor. The story of this dog’s trial is crazy, but so is the treatment given to it by a new filmmaker. It mixes into the cocktail everything that some might consider undrinkable, but they would be wrong: animal causes, obviously, the place of women and domestic violence, without forgetting the limits of human justice. Despite this obvious excess, the dogs bark of course, but the caravan of Laetitia Dosha passes. And the interpretation does not lack bite, to use a simple image: starting with Cody, the dog, incomparable, passing through the actor-director and some juicy supporting roles, namely François Damianes and Jean-Pascal Zad. At the same time, the film’s conclusion confirms that everything that came before is not as light as it seemed. Not so crazy after all, Wasp.”

Nonsensical story?

On the other hand, for Cinemadourg, the plot is less interesting: “Unfortunately, the story of a dog accused of biting a dog at risk of euthanasia (inspired by true events) has very little interest. In addition, the production is chaotic, alternately average and quite bad, always without much in the background. Emotion, in short, crazy and disordered final copy, which does not Has content, too bad for a dog thing!

Opinion shared by doniedarko 1 who notes : “Pretty inconsequential and silly film about a dog’s trial. Anne Dorval is excellent as the lawyer.”

For Mat Niro:Laetitia Dosch takes up too much space for my taste (she does the voice-over), which leaves only Jean-Pascal Zad to use her enormous comic potential. The dog at the center of the debate is at his best, furry and stealing the show from the rest of the troop. In the end, we were left a little disappointed because the sly side is no longer carried over. “

Finally, for Internet user Ishmael: “We find a lot of good things, or rather good ingredients, in the first work of the actress Letizia Doshi: colorful characters, dialogues that are often quite crude but effective, quite successful burlesque sequences and even the beginnings of reflection, philosophical. Stupid, the place of animals in human society. Even some famous actors (Francois Damianes, Mathieu Demy…) are welcome to attend, who I think do a pretty good job of promoting it all.

What’s missing, however, is an actual film that fleshes out all of these ideas. It’s downright messy and feels like it’s done very quickly, with a bit going in every direction. Dog’s Trial is also very short (1h23) considering the number of characters and themes it develops (admittedly in a very embryonic way), which emphasizes its “small movie” side whether it’s a comedy or a drama.

In short, it is very unstable. And it’s really a half-baked movie where you see the glass as half-full or half-empty, depending on what state you’re in to watch it. Or we expected something funny, maybe because of the poster, and then we are disappointed. Either we were expecting nothing at all, or something stupid, and this time we were quite pleasantly surprised. It’s a movie ‘that has potential,’ as they say in a friendly way, when you’re not too sure, but you don’t want to be too mean either.”