Review: ‘A Breed Apart’ Is ‘Sharknado’ With Dogs And Even More Absurdity

The Furst Brothers’ A Breed Apart isn’t A24.

It isn’t Neon. Heck, it isn’t even Blumhouse. This is the most Asylum movie not released by Asylum. This is Sharknado but with dogs. It’s over the top to the point of no return, with absolutely nothing meant to be taken seriously in a ridiculous movie with ridiculous characters. This can go two ways, though: some might be in on the joke, while others roll their eyes at how dumb the movie is. Depending on which camp you’re in will impact how you receive the movie. Mild spoilers for A Breed Apart to follow.

So, here’s the premise: A group of annoying social media influencers get invited to a discreet island. They think this will be the best place for them to shoot more content and become even more insufferable to the world; however, they soon discover they have been brought to this spot to battle against the island’s man-eating dogs. Only the strongest will survive in this version of Squid Game where you hope no one wins – except for the dogs.

The dogs are the stars of the show

For those who don’t know, A Breed Apart is loosely based on the 2006 Wes Craven-produced movie, The Breed. While the tones are the polar opposite of each other, A Breed Apart references a production of The Breed within the story. One of the stars of the in-film production of The Breed is Hayden Panettiere’s Hayden Hearst. While she doesn’t feature much in A Breed Apart, she makes her all-action presence felt in the finale. Hayden appears on the scene and starts to lay the smackdown on all the dogs, which may attract the attention of one John Wick – but hey, dogs are better than people, so call the Baba Yaga to step in.

Like in Jurassic Park, you hope the humans get eaten by the creatures here. Absolutely no one on Earth cheers for the social media influenzas – sorry, influencers – to come out on top against the dogs. In fact, the only two characters with any modicum of likability are Grace Caroline Currey’s Violet and Virginia Gardner’s Thalia, who aren’t as traditionally annoying as the others around them. Yet, don’t be fooled – A Breed Apart isn’t about the paper-thin story or characters; it’s about the moments.

The CGI used for the rabid dogs is intentionally whacky and camp. It’s understandable why, because no one wants to see cute German Shepherds hurt or in danger. Resultantly, you need to ensure that the viewers don’t see them as “real” but as deliberate fake constructs on screen. This allows the filmmakers to amp up the outrageous situations, such as the character Farmer Jay (Page Kennedy) swinging a dog around or Joey Bragg’s Vince Ventura backflipping and wrestling a pooch. That isn’t even the most outrageous moments, because there are tons of scenes that can only elicit a singular “WTF” from the audience. In the interest of not spoiling anything, just watch the trailer for a teaser of the insanity on display.

‘A Breed Apart’ is for those who can shut off their brain and embrace the absurd

As mentioned before, A Breed Apart establishes itself as wild on every level. Even the directors stated that this movie is a combination of Cocaine Bear and Cujo, so consider that amalgamation of madness beforehand. There’s nothing to be taken seriously here, while the barely there story acts as a chugging vehicle to jump from one moment to the next. It’s all about the experience rather than any message or theme.

At the same time, the tongue-in-cheek satire doesn’t always hit the way that the filmmakers may have envisioned it. In James Berardinelli’s review of Cocaine Bear, the critic called the movie “silly but it’s not stupid.” By comparison, A Breed Apart is stupid – very stupid, in fact – with large stretches of, “Okay, does this movie really need to be 100 minutes because I feel my brain dying a slow death here?” That doesn’t mean it’s unenjoyable, but how many people will watch this more than once and sit through it until the end? It’s like Lake Placid vs. Anaconda – you want to tell everyone you have seen it for street cred, but many of us saw the trailer and that was enough.

Look, A Breed Apart isn’t about to be the next Sharknado franchise; it simply lacks the rewatchability factor or appeal that people would like to see more of this premise in further sequels. That said, it will find its audience who appreciate the absurdity of it all. As long as you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll have a few laughs. If not, oh boy – this might not be the film for you.

A Breed Apart bites its way into theaters and on digital on May 16.