Black Dog (2024 film)

Black Dog (Chinese: 狗阵; pinyin: Gou Zhen) is a 2024 Chinese drama film directed by Guan Hu, starring Eddie Peng and Tong Liya. The film had its world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2024, where it won the Un Certain Regard prize.
Former stunt motorcyclist Lang returns to his hometown on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert, where he was a local celebrity prior to his imprisonment. Now residing with his father, Lang must avoid the spiteful local gangster "Butcher Hu", who aims to exact revenge on Lang for his role in his nephew's death. Lang decides to seek the bounty placed on a wild dog as part of a larger program to remove unwanted animals in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and eventually strikes up an unlikely friendship with the canine.
A bus flips over on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert on a road that is occupied by countless wild dogs. One of the passengers is former stunt motorcyclist and musician Lang, a local celebrity before going to prison for manslaughter a decade ago. As Lang returns home on parole, he sees that the town is no longer what it used to be. Many residents have left, leaving a large population of stray dogs. Lang's band has disbanded. Lang's father owns a zoo that is out of business and suffers from health problems due to alcoholism. Lang's sister is struggling financially elsewhere and has been unable to visit home for a long time.
A bounty is placed on a black dog that has been biting people, as part of a larger program to remove stray or unregistered animals in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and to renovate the town for future business developments. Lang pursues the bounty but returns defeated and bitten. He joins the local dog-capturing team led by Uncle Yao, but develops compassion for the dogs. He gets into conflicts with the team members but Uncle Yao forgives him every time. The team catches the black dog, and Lang is tasked with transporting it, but strong winds leave them stranded in the wild overnight. He huddles with the dog in the cold and then gets bitten again. He is helped by a travelling circus group coming into town, including Grape, a dancer with whom he becomes close. Lang develops rabies symptoms and spends time quarantining with the black dog, before adopting it from Uncle Yao.
Snake farmer "Butcher Hu" harasses Lang several times to seek revenge for his nephew's death ten years ago. Lang's father's health deteriorates and he is admitted to the hospital, where he asks Lang to pull the plug. Later, Lang drinks with Grape and hears her complain about life and marriage. As he rides home drunk with his dog, he gets captured by Butcher Hu's gang. He escapes captivity during an earthquake but is unable to locate the black dog anywhere. When he visits Butcher Hu's snake farm, he finds Butcher Hu bitten by a venomous snake and saves him. Butcher Hu thanks Lang, explains that the dog has run away, and offers to reconcile. Lang eventually finds the black dog in critical condition at a dog racing venue out of town. Back home, the black dog dies but posthumously fathers a puppy with another stray dog.
The whole town travels to the desert to see the solar eclipse, while the animals from the zoo are freed and roam the streets of the empty town. Grape is seen leaving on a long-distance bus instead of travelling with the circus. On the night of the Olympics opening ceremony, Lang shares a final drink with his father in the hospital and pulls the plug. Lang leaves town and rides off in the desert with the puppy.
Guan Hu sought to tell the story of ordinary people left behind by the rapid economic development in China and cast actors who could bring a sense of realism to the project.
Eddie Peng established such a strong bond with Xin, the dog featured in the film, that he adopted the dog after filming had wrapped.
Black Dog was selected to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 18 May 2024, and was officially released in mainland China on June 15 and in Singapore on July 25.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 36 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.