The opening moments of Ethan Eng’s directorial debut, Therapy Dogs, shows his co-writer and best friend Justin Morrice riding in the passenger seat of a car being driven by his lecturing mother. As if inspired to create a darker version of the Lady Bird opening, Justin hurls himself out of the moving car to his presumed death upon a pointed inquiry about school. Of course, this did not actually happen, but this manifestation of existential dread and youthful anxiety feels authentic to the emotions of the subject. It is also your first indication that what you are about to witness is not going to fit neatly into the standard-issue documentary format.
Developed by the pair in 2017 at the age of 16 and captured during their 2018-2019 senior year of high school, Therapy Dogs sets out with the lofty idea of creating the ultimate senior video that might help make sense of their high school existence. By fabricating the idea of a yearbook video, Eng was allowed unparalleled access to the inner-workings of his Mississauga high school just outside of Toronto. By adhering to the old credo of “it is better to ask forgiveness than permission,” the two were able to capture as authentic of a high school experience as has been portrayed on film. Even when the film indulges in staged sequences like the opening, it is all in service of translating the deep emotions of modern youths into something meaningful and relatable.
Shot using an array of different cameras from professional setups to cell phone footage, Eng finds a way to capture his peers with their barriers down. There are relatively quaint moments like learning the girl you have a crush on would have said “yes” if you had only had the courage to ask her out. Beyond that, though, things escalate precipitously outside of the confines of the school hallways as groups of roaming boys explore abandoned buildings or go on an LSD odyssey through downtown Toronto. The latter is humorously juxtaposed with Justin’s real-life appearance in a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) promotional video which pokes holes in the artifice of what is right and wrong.
There are several key figures beyond Ethan and Justin who the film returns to for a more grounding presence throughout. The most captivating of these subjects is Kevin Tseng, a handsome, floppy-haired guy whose aloofness screams cool. Kevin is equally at home in the midst of the aforementioned LSD trip as well as a member of the school drama department. There is more than one example of the admiration his peers have for him, but even during moments of triumph Kevin can be found sneaking away for a solitary smoke and reflection on his trajectory. In an admission late in the film, Kevin expresses his own self-doubt to Ethan about ever breaking away and becoming successful. If the presumed school “cool guy” is bleeding confidence, what hope does that leave for the rest of us?
It may seem a bit self-indulgent to think that anyone outside of your friend group would care to see what you went through during high school, but Therapy Dogs manages to tap into a universal truth at various points throughout. Even audiences who are some years removed from high school themselves will recognize the feelings on display. There is a period of time before you are forced into the “real world” when you feel almost invincible physically and utterly adrift mentally and emotionally. Instead of planning your next steps, it feels easier to strap yourself to the roof of a car or jump off a tall bridge into uncertain water. The latter is included during a portion of the movie entitled “Bad ideas are better with friends.”
The uncertainty of the transition from youth to adulthood goes hand-in-hand with larger themes such as male friendship, which is operating at a particularly heightened level at this point in life. Oftentimes young men lack the tools to properly sift through the myriad of emotions they have swirling around in their brains, and it is not uncommon to see that manifest as aggression. There is the expected destruction of property throughout the film, but one of the most visceral moments comes from Ethan and Justin’s decision to (playfully) exchange blows in an enclosed shopping cart corral. Even without the animosity, the blows are real and the two come away with bloody smiles and various small welts and lacerations. Yet, the true pain comes not from any fist, but rather a fumbled admission of genuine love and admiration which is misinterpreted. For all of the physical strength they might have, it takes only a few stray words to leave a mark.
Ethan and Justin embarked upon this project as a way to gain clarity during this tumultuous period in their lives. It is hard for any teenager to achieve clarity, and this documentary certainly does not solve any grand mystery about the high school experience. What it does achieve is immortalizing the chaotic feeling of being alive at this stage in your life. The narrative as presented here is not easily digested, which is by design, but taken as a whole there is a strange beauty to the vulnerability shown by all involved. At worst, Therapy Dogs might just send you down a nostalgic path of your own youthful indiscretions, but, if engaged with openly, it has the possibility of creating empathy for both the youth of today and your past self.
Therapy Dogs is currently playing in select theaters and available On Demand courtesy of Utopia.
Through unparalleled access to a real-life Canadian high school and inventive filmmaking techniques, director Ethan Eng and co-writer Justin Morrice have captured an authentic look at the oversized emotions that come with the murky transition into adulthood.
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GVN Rating 7
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Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.