"What takes the lion's share of the story is Juha's drab life, his home is as antiseptic as his working place, the communication between him and Elli is occluded, he prefers a BDSM session over Elli's band performance in the school, which says a lot about what a parent he is, and we aren't informed if his wife's decease is an accident or not, is there marital strife in the play? Meanwhile, the fascinating Mona is utilized solely as an enigma, is playing dominatrix a side hustle for fast cash or stems from her id? It could be both but the answer is moot. Again, there is no pleasure in their role play, Juha only wants to experience the feeling of suffocation to re-live that drowning tragedy, to meet his dead wife again, underwater and breathless, not the frisson of ASMR or orgasm. And a po-faced Mona is a pro doing her routines with as less emotional attachment as possible, she doesn't seem to enjoy what she does, not for a minute, if anything, only some unspecified disturbance are looming beneath her spandex get-up. So, if the story sounds perversely erotic, Valeapää's execution is rather somber, un-sexy and queasy (fingernail-pulling and tooth-pulling are far from the nexus of BDSM),and when Mona's professional facade predictably cracks, we are not any the wiser."

read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.

Dogs Don't Wear Pants (Finland, J.P. Valkeapaa, 2019) - "It is by going down into the abyss," said Joseph Campbell "that we recover the treasures of life."

A surgeon, Juha, sinks into depression after his wife drowns. Neglecting his job, daughter and health, Juha is breaking down. When he stumbles into the orbit of Mona, a dominatrix, she becomes an obsession for him. Through her there are flashbacks to moments with his wife. Juha cannot get enough. Mona too is infatuated. Here is someone impervious to her charms. As they push each other deeper, someone has got to blink.

The radiance of Dogs Don't Wear Pants is the focus on the characters of both Mona and Juha, not one or the other. Also, it is deep and enlightening in ways I did not expect. There is no simple formula and no one has sold out to "the man." The film is liberating, cathartic. "You are alive after all," says a friend to Juha. So are all who witness and appreciate this little gem. Streaming on Shudder. Four and a half of five stars.

Those who think that this movie is about sex or fetishes they are wrong. It is about loss and coping with loss. People in general deal with loss in different ways. Some start to drink, some start to take drugs, some start to harm themselves and some get into kink and sadomaso world. It is a way to deal with your feelings and pain. Go see this movie with an open mind and heart.