Reflective Encounters

“Compared to the rest of Syria, life in Damascus seems relatively normal, sealed off from the brunt of the conflict in the seemingly never-ending Syrian Civil War. But in Jalal Maghout’s disorienting Have a Nice Dog! (2020), even the implication of surrounding devastation can produce scars on the psyche that refuse to heal, as we see a man plunge into the depths of depression with no reprieve. The film employs an impressive blend of media, with sketchy 2D drawings overlaid on exaggerated CGI models. This creates an odd sense of movement for characters, appearing as flat models, yet pulsating with life, drawing us deep into the uncanny valley.

Scenes of war are eschewed for scenes in the man’s apartment as we witness how his perspective is warped by the violence peripheral to him.  His one chance for escape, a visa, appears unreachable with visual metaphors employed to illustrate a Sisyphean struggle to overcome his present circumstances. Meanwhile, an intense montage shows an abstracted depiction of how his damaged mental state is formed, cross-cutting between his memories and a visceral scene of the titular dog, becoming increasingly deformed, destroying a teddy bear. As the man remarks on the intense joy his dog took in destroying something he loves, it becomes clear that the dog stands in for those involved in the destruction of Syria, the violence of their actions distorting his once peaceful memories.”

— Matthew Chan