Marcello is a small, mild man, living in a dilapidated Rome suburb; he owns a dog grooming shop, and divides his days between his work, his daughter, Alida, and peaceful relationships with neighbors. He supplements his meager income selling cocaine to acquaintances. One is Simone, a huge and thuggish former boxer who terrorises the neighborhood. The extent of this abusive friendship is demonstrated when one night, Simone forces Marcello to take part in a robbery. The job runs smoothly, but Marcello overhears from his accomplice that he put a dog in the freezer to shut it up. After receiving his tiny share of the loot, Marcello returns to the scene, retrieves the dog, and revives it. Simone continues to cause havoc, punching a restaurant owner and breaking his nose. Some locals discuss what to do about him, but no decision is made. Marcello is silent throughout. Later that night, Simone forces Marcello to get cocaine for him from his supplier; Simone is turned down due to his debts, to which the thug responds by brutally beating the dealer and one of his henchmen, leaving with a haul of coke that he and Marcello consume in a strip club. On leaving, Simone is shot by a man on a motorbike. After refusing to go to hospital, Marcello takes Simone to his mother's house to tend to him; here, Simone and his mother have a brief argument over the cocaine, with his mother upset by Marcello's addiction. One day, Simone discovers that Marcello's shop shares a hollow wall with a cash-for-gold shop, and plans to rob it. Marcello tries to dissuade him, as the owner is his friend, but Simone bullies Marcello into giving him his key. Next morning, Marcello discovers that Simone carried out the robbery, planting evidence to incriminate him. Marcello is arrested; during the questioning, a policeman makes clear that they know Simone was responsible and tries to convince Marcello to cooperate, but he refuses and is imprisoned. One year later, Marcello returns home a pariah, rejected even by his cocaine supplier, and having to rebuild his business from scratch; desperate for money, he tracks down Simone and asks for his share of the robbery, but is told it was spent on a motorbike. Hardened by prison, Marcello retaliates by smashing Simone's bike. The next day, the bully beats him up in public. After this, Marcello meditates his vengeance. After a few days, Marcello seeks Simone out again, apologising for the bike and proposing they rob cocaine suppliers meeting at his shop, to which Simone agrees. The next day, Marcello tells Simone to hide in one of the dog cages and wait for his signal. Simone reluctantly does so, only to be locked in it by Marcello, who now taunts the bully. Simone manages to kick the door open, but Marcello hits him on the head with a metal bar as he is crawling out. Marcello chains Simone to the wall in order to medicate him, but Simone traps Marcello's head under his arm and begins to strangle him. In trying to free himself, Marcello involuntarily kills Simone by strangling him with the chain. Shocked, Marcello disposes of the body by setting it on fire in a field. Hearing his former friends playing football, he tries to capture their attention by shouting to them that the bully is finally dead, to no avail. He then takes the corpse back to the football field, only to discover that his friends left. Marcello eventually decides to bring it to the main square, waiting for people to notice. The groomer slowly realizes that nobody will show up, and he will remain alone with his responsibilities.
Cast
Marcello Fonte as Marcello
Edoardo Pesce as Simone
Alida Baldari Calabria as Alida
Nunzia Schiano as Simoncino's mother
Adamo Dionisi as Franco
Francesco Acquaroli as Francesco
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregrator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 107 reviews, with an average rating of 7.52/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Dogman offers a grim character study set apart by Marcello Fonte's performance and director Matteo Garrone's tight grip on the material." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of score of 71 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
