Spoilers think all dogs go to heaven except this one.

About time we mix in some animation here. Of course, this is Fantasia so all family audiences please steer clear of this one. This one is going to be degrading, filthy, putrid, decadent, obscene and definitely something you should not watch on a full stomach… or even an empty one. Definitely horror-themed, this feature is packed of a supernatural and vindictive flair against the repressive oppression of the church and state. After seeing this, I don’t object.

Dog of God (2025) is directed by Lauris and Raitis Abele, who wrote it with Ivo Briedis and Harijs Grundmanis. Welcome to the Baltic region. We’re in a 17th-century Livonian town, ruled by a Baron that can’t get it up and a Pastor that condemns anything that moves and lusts after his own parishioners. The very object of his repressed lust is the owner and barmaid of the local tavern, Neza. Neza’s not a witch but dabbles in esoterism and alchemy, which is more enough for the Pastor to harbour both lust and resentment towards her. The Pastor keeps an eye on her tavern via his crippled altar boy Kibli, who he treats as a lowlife.

The unstable balance of life in the town gets upended once a holy relic the Pastor keeps gets stolen. The perfect opportunity then arises for the Pastor to bring the holy wrath of the church, and the soldiers employed by the Baron, to accuse Neza. And just as the trial begins, a figure we’re seen rising from the earth appears. An unhinged and feral man, calling himself the Dog of God has come to town… And whether he’s here to aid church, state or the accused witchcraft practitioner is unknown.

This is rotoscope animation at its finest, or rather at it’s best depiction of the lowest form of what humanity can become. It spares you not from any of the dirtier and most depraved forms of human decadence. And yet, it’s perfect in its degrading picture of both the rich, the powerful, the supposed pure and the uncaring masses.

Recommended with reservations for an appreciate audience of both animation and decadence. Folk horror, sinister to its core, feels to almost shine. Casual audiences should abstain, not for the horror but for the squeamish eyes as I’ve hardly seen a portrayal of filth more disgusting in both animated and live action alike. Worth a watch for the niche audience intended.

That will do for now.