BLACK DOG Trailer (2024) Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn-Francis, Drama Movie

BLACK DOG Trailer (2024) Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn-Francis, Drama Movie

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BLACK DOG Trailer (2024) Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn-Francis, Ruby Stokes, Teen, Drama, Road Movie
© 2024 - Vertigo Releasing

Black Dog is a sincere and moving debut about the daunting leap into adulthood
Directed by George Jaques, Black Dog follows two teenage British boys from contrasting London backgrounds who join together for a road trip
Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Black Dog poignantly portrays the beauty, chaos and loss which comes with turning eighteen but it could've done with being left to breathe.

Directed by George Jaques, who also wrote and produced the film alongside Avatar: Way of the Water star Jamie Flatters, Black Dog is a deeply meaningful and moving debut, instigating important messages about young people's - and particularly men's - mental health and preparing for the daunting leap into adulthood.

Flatters stars next to Keenan Munn-Francis in the movie; Jaques' first feature-length film which he himself first started writing at the young age of 18 - and there's few signs that give this away.

Catch the trailer below:

The coming-of-age film follows teenage British boys Nathan (Flatters) and Sam (Munn-Francis) from contrasting London backgrounds who join together for a road trip, not only journeying up to the North but also navigating their way into their adult years.

Both are struggling to let go and make sense of their pasts and grappling with the unpredictability of their futures, the duo prove to be an, at times, quite violent and almost detrimental yin to the other's yang.

Jaques and Flatters' script is precise, at times both heart-wrenchingly but also humorously so, and blossoms as the film goes on - as someone who grew up in London and spent days on the common glugging Glen's vodka straight from the bottle and coughing on Pall Mall cigarettes trying to grow up too fast, I felt transported.

It's impossible to watch Black Dog and not feel a chord struck within you - whether it be a pang of nostalgia or a chime with a past version of your own adolescent self.

The cinematography of the shots is well-considered, grows more engaging and emphasises the beauty of certain moments, both this and the script complimenting the impressive display of acting on show from Flatters and Munn-Francis.

Black Dog stars Jamie Flatters and Keenan Munn-Francis (Vertigo Releasing)
Black Dog stars Jamie Flatters and Keenan Munn-Francis (Vertigo Releasing)
Munn-Francis' portrayal of the vulnerable, anxiety-ridden Sam is exquisite to watch, the young actor excelling at portraying the intricate layers and depth of the character.

From his first close-up, his eyes say it all, Munn-Francis maintaining a masterful hold on channeling such pure and strong emotion in just one glance or stare.

Flatters' character of Nathan is aggressively intense from the get-go. Nathan is highly juxtaposed to Sam, so much so initially, the character almost felt too jarring to watch when compared to the initial tone of the rest of the film. However, as the film progresses, this intensity is highly justified and has clearly been thoroughly considered by both Jaques as director and Flatters.

Flatters' focused commitment to the complexity of Nathan's background and trauma manifesting itself in the heartstring-tugging portrayal of a teenager writhing in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions results in a beautiful arc to Nathan's emotional journey.

But, the use of music in the film did jar with the nuance of the script alongside the earnest nature of the performances on screen.

Keenan Munn-Francis stars as Sam (Vertigo Releasing)
Keenan Munn-Francis stars as Sam (Vertigo Releasing)
Whether it be a sound similar to a pounding heart used in one tense scene or music used as filler in others, I wish silence had been embraced instead.

I understand the fear that can arise from too much quiet or stillness and the desire to push the viewer in the right direction of emotion or to signal a scene as holding greater significance in a character's journey, but the use of music - at least at the start of the film - felt too much.

It felt used in a bid to force viewers' reaction when actually certain moments would've been more powerful had they been left to breathe - the cinematography of the shots, the captivating standard of acting and well-crafted script left to truly shine.

The transitions and intercutting between shots felt like it could've done with being slightly smoother too.

Saying that, similarly to how Nathan and Sam's physical journey to Scotland gives way to a growth within them, the film itself mirrors this journey as well, growing stronger and stronger as it progresses - the creatives involved learnt a lot along the way too.

George Jaques directed and co-wrote the film (Supplied)
George Jaques directed and co-wrote the film (Supplied)
While the music felt slightly forced and distracting in earlier scenes, as Black Dog plays on the use of music becomes far more refined.

One scene in particular when Nathan and Sam are in the car, the introduction of music beautifully highlights the moment of connection between the pair - the shots, lighting and sound working together in a moment of pure harmony and emotion which was skin-prickling to experience.

Several lines in the script are also given their moments to breathe as the journey continues, allowing the true power of the words and characters' emotions to show, triggering a natural and even more clenching tug on the heart-strings.

The script fits a lot in and could even be considered as squishing in too much at times, particularly the amount of sensitive topics and themes it deals with - from touching on the foster care system, to diving into certain mental health-related conditions to its multiple embodiments of grief.

Jamie Flatters stars as Nathan (Vertigo Releasing)
Jamie Flatters stars as Nathan (Vertigo Releasing)
There are two scenes in particular which are quite shocking to view - one in which my hand flew to my mouth in horror and another, when the realization of what was going on made my heart feel like it was almost physically aching.

On one hand this is great - the film isn't predictable, which many other coming-of-age films can fall into the trap of. On the other, Black Dog could certainly come with a content warning or three.

In one of the moments, I questioned whether the intensity of the moment had been appropriately built up to, but at the same time, I reflected that's simply not always how life works.

And it definitely didn't fall into the trap of a cheesy ending either - I was close to punching the air in triumph. Black Dog was wrapped up so flawlessly I was left with a huge beam on my face - with a few tears having sprung to my eyes too - and wanting more.

Black Dog is a heart-felt, beautiful debut from Jaques (Vertigo Releasing)
Black Dog is a heart-felt, beautiful debut from Jaques (Vertigo Releasing)
There's no doubt about the film being lovingly and dedicatedly crafted by up-and-coming, highly talented - and driven - young creatives who've been inspired by their own vulnerabilities and tender experiences to not just make something beautiful, but to provoke much-needed conversation.

Black Dog is a sincere, at times heart-wrenching, but also beautiful portrayal of the chaos of being a teenager on the cusp of entering adult life and is a real coming-of-age film by people who actually understand and appreciate what it’s like to grow up in the mayhem of the world as it is right now.
Feature debuts are tricky. They can be masterpieces that stand the test of time, like Sidney Lumet’s 12 ANGRY MEN, or gain instant universal acclaim like Charlotte Wells’ AFTERSUN did in 2022. More often than not, they slide under the radar as the craft on show is a little rough, with the director still finding their cinematic voice. George Jaques’s BLACK DOG, a feature debut about two London boys from different sides of the tracks coming together on a road trip to the north of England, shows a lack of confidence in storytelling. However, while it may not be that memorable come the end of 2024 (the indie film scene is a dog-eat-black-dog world), there’s a lot of heart to be found within the film’s discussion on masculinity in a modern-day setting.

Nathan (co-writer Jamie Flatters) was placed in foster care as a 12-year-old by his older sister Scarlett (Liv Hill, in voice only). To his sister, it’s necessary, but to Nathan, who is already orphaned, it’s an abandonment. Now about to turn 18, the shaggy but affable Nathan runs away from his London housing, his mechanic job, and his on-off again love interest and fellow foster kid, Kayla (Ruby Stokes). His plan to get to his sister in Scotland is slapdash and impulsive, but it finds a bit of coherence after he stops Sam (Keenan Munn-Francis) from being mugged. Sam, an old school friend of Nathan’s who seems to be hiding a secret, thanks him for it, and it just so happens that he’s also heading north – to Berwick-Upon-Tweed – in his mum’s little blue car.

The two embark on a road trip together, and the pair slowly disengage from their traumas in stereotypical fashion. Nathan’s traumas are front and centre, told through flashbacks, while the script plays Sam’s close to its chest. The obvious nature of the reveal of Sam’s motivation to travel up north is symptomatic of it being a debut film, where a lack of foresight means that the options given to the audience on what could possibly be causing a 17-year-old such pain are limited.

The two young men travel up the A1(M), passing various geographically iconic structures, such as the Tyne Bridge and the Angel of the North, spliced in as indicators of the characters’ current geographical location alongside images of relevant motorway road signs. This approach is an overly simplistic, apathetic editing choice that makes the film feel televisual; these montage sequences play out similarly to how a sitcom from the early 2000s would represent a new location.

The film also attempts to indicate that this journey is time-consuming and arduous, not just to the boys’ mental state. However, this is contradicted by the film’s lack of understanding of British geography. The drive from London to Berwick only takes roughly five and a half hours, and they rest at a hotel overnight, less than three hours into their journey. The sun, not having begun to set, shines bright as the two strangers-turned-friends make their way from the hotel to a beach for a swim. It’s unclear which beach they’re supposed to have found along the A1(M), but confused, clumsy elements around time and location are immersion-breaking and unrealistic.

“Indeed, the script is where everything comes slightly unstuck. It is clunky and unnatural, even if the chemistry between the two is the film’s main strength.”

A strong facet of the film that extends it beyond overly familiar narrative beats is Sam’s eating disorder. His oral fixation on chewing toilet paper gives the character a layer of intrigue. However, a stronger script might have done something with this as this one leaves the eating disorder as a character trait rather than something for Jaques’s film to discuss insightfully. Indeed, the script is where everything comes slightly unstuck. It is clunky and unnatural, even if the chemistry between the two is the film’s main strength. It’s the sort of script that doesn’t understand where and when to pull back: characters declare their motivations and feelings openly.

“That BLACK DOG is still brisk and fun in simple, messy ways means something went right.”

There is a lack of confidence in its characters, even if elements like describing Nathan’s deceased mother as “a perfect ghost” evoke strong emotions. When the script gives Munn-Francis and Flatters room to explore their characters’ masculinity visually rather than aurally, some poignant material is broached. The aforementioned hotel stay results in the boys sleeping in the same bed, their feet slightly touching. The implication that they’re naked under the blanket becomes a way of showing that their mental walls are slowly stripping back, as well as the rote ideas of masculine performance.

That BLACK DOG is still brisk and fun in simple, messy ways means something went right. Even as much as the film’s warts are visible – transitions straight from the television playbook and awkward cutting within conversations – a lot in here feels like prime learning curve material for Jaques, whose next film can be great should the choices be bolder and more confident.
This film is legitimately just two bros in a car having an amazing time. Black Dog follows Nathan (Jamie Flatters), a foster kid who wants to travel to a foreign country with a foreign language—Scotland—to find his sister. He encounters our other lead, Sam (Keenan Munn-Francis), while being mugged, and Nathan saves him. This chance encounter leads to them traveling across the UK together.

My favourite aspect of Black Dog is that our two main leads, Jamie Flatters and Keenan Munn-Francis, have palpable chemistry together. Once they are on screen together, you cannot help but grin. They feel like two lads having the time of their lives. The film relies heavily on their performances, and I feel it would be a completely different film if they weren’t our leads. Flatters and Munn-Francis were tremendous, and I loved every minute they were on screen.

What I feel allows the performances to reach the heights they do is the script. The narrative that unfolds ranges from being lively to sentimental. A key plot involving a dog perfectly showcases our characters’ mindset and views on the world. It leads to powerful moments of human drama that worked well for me. However, quite ironically, when it comes to the story, the journey is better than the destination. Parts of the ending did work, but while I feel Sam got a definitive conclusion, Nathan’s narrative is left more open, and while I didn’t hate it, I did want more, as Nathan is such a fantastic character.

Black Dog is the debut feature of George Jaques, and it is shocking as the film is directed with such unmitigated passion and a true vision. He brings humanity and realness to this film, which allows it to prosper in an alluring way. The film also tackles some really important issues like eating disorders and loss. The way the film tackles these issues feels very pure and unfiltered but also treated with respect.

However, I found the film’s soundtrack to be truly forgettable. As I sit here and type this review, I legitimately could not tell you any moment where I felt the music added to a scene in a memorable or impressive way.

Black Dog is a successful debut feature. I had a very good time watching this little gem of a film with strong acting and a decent story that leads to a journey that I would recommend.
Vertigo Releasing have announced the release of their coming-of-age roadtrip drama, Black Dog. The film will be released across Digital platforms from 19th August.

Directed by George Jacques, the film stars Jamie Flatters (Avatar: The Way of Water), Keenan Munn-Francis (Feature Length Debut)
Nicholas Pinnock (The Book of Clarence), Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones), Ruby Stokes (Lockwood & Co.), Hattie Morahan (Beauty & The Beast), Amrita Acharia (The Serpent Queen) and Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels). Black Dog marks Flatters and Jaques’ feature screenwriting debut.

Two teenage boys from very different London backgrounds embark on a road trip North together. As they start to open up about their pasts, the boys learn they have far more in common than they first thought.

Check out the trailer here

Black Dog will be available on Apple and Amazon from 19th August
Black Dog
Directed by George Jaques
Written by Jamie Flatters and George Jaques
Starring Jamie Flatters and Keenan Munn-Francis
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes
Available digitally August 19

by Jon Jansen, Staff Writer

Long road trips can be the perfect catalyst to get to know someone. Being stuck in a car for so long will eventually lead to questions, which can lead to deeper conversations. Black Dog follows two teenage boys in this moment as they discover each other’s views of life and its troubles. The film doesn’t hide its melancholy, with the title even using the metaphor “black dog” openly. Despite its heavy-handed approach, Black Dog still finds enough in one of its characters to bring some intrigue to this standard coming-of-age story.

Nathan (Jamie Flatters) and Sam (Keenan Munn-Francis) meet unexpectedly after Nathan finds Sam being mugged in an alley. Nathan aggressively fights off the muggers, sneaks Sam’s wallet into his pocket, and then checks up on Sam. When the encounter ends, Nathan returns to his home as this parent-like figure wants to throw him a party before he leaves the next day. After half-heartedly agreeing to the party, Nathan goes to his room where he wildly tears things off the wall screaming as if he is in pain. Sam when he gets home, he is greeted at the door by the family’s black dog and his father at the kitchen table in a robe looking melancholic. Sam makes his way to the bathroom where he neatly folds pieces of toilet paper and eats them, seemingly as a way to cope with getting mugged.

The next day, after running away from his home, Nathan returns the wallet to Sam saying he found it that morning. Sam, on his way out for a trip, offers to give Nathan a ride to the train station. Turns out, Nathan was already late and after getting into a confrontation with a worker at the train station, Natan accepts Sam's offer to bring him along for an unexpected road trip together.

As we are introduced to each of them, it is obvious Nathan and Sam are complete opposites. Nathan is carefree, always finding himself in trouble, and acts like a child, whether that be kicking his feet while sitting making loud banging noises, or childish outbursts. The outbursts in particular come off a bit strange and forced. James Flatters, who is also a co-writer for the film, does a good enough job in his mannerisms making Nathan seem like a grown child. The way he talks, moves, kicks his feet, are all good characterization marks. The over the top outbursts feel unnecessary and makes an already cliche character hard to find any sort of connection to. Sam, on the other hand is always on edge, even too anxious to even pull his car out of his parking spot, and also has an eating disorder causing him to only want to eat toilet paper. It’s of course a strange addiction that Sam tries hard to hide from Nathan on their road trip.

The best parts of the film come in the car, a perfect vehicle for the two to question each other about the places they’re going, if it’s alright to hook up with a flatmate, and singing songs together. These conversations perfectly set up upcoming contentions and connections the two will eventually encounter on the way. Black Dog unfortunately can’t trust these moments, often heightening the drama needlessly and coming on too strong. Most of the time caused by Nathan’s outbursts. With Nathan at one point taking the keys to Sam’s car as Sam is in the shower and rushes off to drive away, only to drive a few feet, scream, and return to their hotel room. There’s no restraint in showing Nathan’s anger. He ultimately becomes an angry teenager cliche.

While Nathan is tied to overly dramatic cliches, Kennan Munn-Francis, in his cinematic debut, soul crushingly plays Sam. It’s easy to overdo something with the high stakes Sam is dealing with. He’s hiding an eating disorder that he knows is deeply strange and it’s understood the great lengths he would go for it to remain hidden. Sam has the most cathartic moments in Black Dog, that bring out the best in the two actors. Dealing with Sam’s issues brings about clever bits of dialogue that cut into the heart of the film. Speaking from a place of real value and a place that feels real. It’s a shame when the film can’t keep that up.

Their connection together is always tried in some way, whether that be through their own shortcomings or challenging problems. The best of this comes after Sam accidentally hits a dog on the road. It’s clear that the dog isn’t going to make it and it’s even more clear that the two have to make some tough decisions. How they come about that solution is a great showcase on how the two fill in for each other’s blind spots. Sam makes empathetic decisions that Nathan can’t understand the importance of, while Nathan makes the tough decisions that Sam is too anxious to make. It’s a great showcase of what strong connections can do for people that struggle to make them.

Black Dog travels in familiar coming-of-age territory. The most egregious cliches are brought on by the way Nathan is portrayed, and spoils any interesting ideas the film may have and excessively escalates the film's drama. Black Dog is bailed out by Kennan Munn-Francis’ terrific portrayal of Sam. The stakes are high for Sam and his attempts at hiding his dark secrets gives the film the tension it needs. It’s fair to question if the focus should’ve solely been on Sam instead of split between the two. As is, the banality of the film weighs heavy throughout and its one interesting character isn’t enough to bring it out of that.
“Avatar 2: The Way of Water” star Jamie Flatters looks unrecognizable in stills from his upcoming indie feature “Black Dog,” revealed here exclusively by Variety.

Shedding his blue CG ensemble, Flatters, who plays Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington’s eldest Na’avi son in James Cameron’s billion-dollar smash, reverts to type in “Black Dog” as a London teenager taking a road trip up North.

Jamie Flatters and Ruby Stokes in ‘Black Dog’ (Courtesy of Independent Entertainment)
Flatters co-wrote the British indie feature with his friend George Jaques (“The Serpent Queen”), who will also direct. “Black Dog” represents both Flatters and Jaques’ feature screenwriting debut.

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Joining Flatters on screen is Ruby Stokes (“Lockwood & Co”), Nicholas Pinnock (“For Life”), Paul Kaye (“After Life”), Amrita Acharia (“Game of Thrones”), Hattie Morahan (“Enola Holmes”) and Keenan Munn-Francis making his film debut.

Popular on Variety
Flatters and Munn-Francis will play the leads in this two-hander about a pair of teenagers, Sam and Nathan, who find themselves on a roadtrip across the U.K. while they deal with grief, love, sexuality and friendship. Sam is searching for his mother in the North East of England while Nathan has run away from his foster family and is trying to find his sister, who he thinks live in Scotland.

“After a chance encounter, Sam agrees to give Nathan a ride North in his mom’s car and as their impromptu adventure together takes an unexpected turn, the boys begin to open up and learn they have far more in common than they first thought,” reads the synopsis.

“We found our school experiences extremely formative,” Flatters has previously said of working on the film with Jaques, whom he met as a teenager kicking around London. “He came from private school, I came from a state [public] school. And the divide was interesting because it was extremely felt between our social groups. So the logline for ‘Black Dog’ is: two boys meet by chance on a London street after one of them’s been mugged. And that night, they both realise that they need to escape London and leave it for good. But on the road up to Scotland, they re-experience the traumas they were running away from. So you look at that push and pull between different social structures.”

Keenan Munn-Francis in ‘Black Dog’ (Courtesy of Independent Entertainment)
Jaques will produce through Athenaeum Productions alongside 27 Ten Productions’ Ken Petrie. Ian Sharp and Flatters will also produce.

“Shakespeare in Love” and “The Father” producer David Parfitt is exec producing (through Trademark Films) alongside Independent, who are also repping global sales. “Black Dog” will make its market debut at EFM this week.

“We knew from the first time we met George that he was a force of filmmaking nature,” said Independent Entertainment’s Sarah Lebutsch, managing director for International Sales. “True to form, he has assembled an extraordinary team both in front of and behind the camera, to help bring his and Jamie’s beautiful, touching story to life. Independent Entertainment are passionate about championing emerging British filmmakers, and we can’t wait to share George’s debut with the world.”
Year: 2023

Director: George Jaques

Writer: George Jaques, Jamie Flatters

Producer: George Jaques, Ken Petrie, Jamie Flatters, Ian Sharp

Executive Producers: David Parfitt

Cast: Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn-Francis

Production Company: Athenaeum Productions, 27 Ten Productions in association with Trademark Films and Sharp House

Synopsis
An extrovert foster kid desperate to see his sister ends up on an unexpected road trip with an introverted fellow teen in actor-turned-director George Jaques’s funny and touching tale of friendship and moving on.

Jamie Flatters (Avatar: The Way of Water) and newcomer Keenan Munn-Francis prove great company in this funny and touching coming of age story from actor-turned-director George Jaques (A Town Called Malice). Extroverted loose cannon foster kid Nathan (Flatters) is the polar opposite of the buttoned-up Sam (Munn-Francis) but when they unexpectedly end up leaving London on a road trip to Scotland together a journey of connection is about to begin.

Jaques (who co-wrote the script with Flatters) creates a road trip to remember, blending high energy comedy with moments of poignant connection as the pair learn about one another and themselves.

More information
Premiere: Black Dog had its Scottish premiere at Glasgow Film Festival 2024.

The film’s producer Ken Petrie is part of Film FastTrack, scripted producer development programme supported by Screen Scotland.

Image credits
Still from Black Dog, courtesy of BLACK DOG SPV Limited
In Black Dog, two teenage boys, Nathan (Jamie Flatters) and Sam (Keenan Munn-Francis), from very different London backgrounds, embark on a road trip North together. As they start to open up about their pasts, the boys learn they have far more in common than they first thought. The film is written by Jamie Flatters and George Jacques, with Jacques also directing.

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With no knowledge of the film going into my watch, only a brief synopsis – I was completely blind going in. I was incredibly interested in watching, thanks to Flatters’ involvement, having followed his career since his beginnings on CBBC’s So Random. As for the film, I did enjoy it. The main chemistry between the two protagonists is easily the highlight in the heartwarming tale of two boys looking to overcome their two very different griefs.

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BLACK DOG‘S COMPELLING LEAD PERFORMANCES
Jamie Flatters takes on a completely different role compared to his last in The School of Good and Evil and Avatar: The Way of Water, where he played both Tedros and Neteyam, respectively. This time around, Flatters is both acting and writing (of which he shares the duty with director George Jacques). Nathan, who we see leaving his foster care home as he turns 18, soon departs on a cross-country journey – in hopes of reuniting with his sister. Flatters’ performance perfectly captures the essence of a teenager desperate to navigate the threshold as he transitions from his teenage years into adulthood. Having Nathan coming from a background in care allows Flatters to inject even more depth into his character performance, which he does sufficiently.

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Black Dog 03
On the same journey, but following a different path, is Keenan Munn-Francis as Sam who provides a much more emotive portrayal of his character. A young man succumbs to a heavy weight of grief as he spends a good duration of the film keeping his struggles to himself, building up to an excruciating moment when all breaks loose. Munn-Francis masterfully brings Jaques and Flatters’ script to life, skillfully portraying the moving essence of Sam’s heartbreak in the most poignant and compelling manner. Easily the strongest performance in this film.

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BLACK DOG AND ITS DEPICTION OF GRIEF
The film’s biggest praise goes to its well-portrayed manner of grief. Grief is such a universal human experience, and Jacques and Flatters’ writing doesn’t beat around the bush but deals with it in such a serious matter. When it is depicted as well as it is in Black Dog, it allows viewers who have faced different means of grief to see themself within the media they’re consuming. Whilst I haven’t experienced the level of grief on display in the film, I still became incredibly emotional to see a young man, incredibly similar to my age, struggling with how his life is going, and I felt seen for just a short moment.

Whilst the film has its fair share of emotional scenes, there are plenty of light-hearted and fun moments too; this is a coming-of-age road trip film, after all. From a trip to a hotel off the motorway, jumping in the pool, and tricking each other into doing a runner and bunking off paying – a lot of the fun scenes counter the deep, emotional settings of others, creating this completely nuanced experience.

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MODERN DEPICTIONS OF YOUNGER GENERATIONS
Crafting scripts, especially when writing on behalf of young people, is always a difficult front. You can have writers who are completely out of touch with today’s younger generations, producing some overly enthusiastic stereotypes – and that has the potential to completely throw the feel and end product of a film. In this instance, Flatters is on hand for co-writing duties, and I think the script benefits greatly from capturing the young essence of life these two young men have.

There is nothing worse than watching a young character throwing around 5-year-old slang like “Swag” and “Sick Fam”, so Black Dog didn’t disappoint me on that front and managed to steer clear of any silly dialogue. I would love to know which of the pair was responsible for the film’s best piece of dialogue – “Your mum’s a prostitute”, accounting for some of the funniest road rage I’ve seen on screen for quite some time.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Black Dog ends up unfolding as an incredibly compassionate coming-of-age road trip film that was a joy to witness. Bolstered by two compelling performances and a commendable debut in writing from Flatters and Jaques, the film marks a promising start. Eagerly anticipating the future trajectories of all involved, the movie adeptly explores grief and its impact on the younger generation—an important narrative that merits increased awareness across all forms of media.
George Jaques is on a bit of a roll. George Jaques has been on a roll since he wrote and produced his first play as a teenager (he’s now a decrepit 24), but recent months have been especially dizzying.

His debut feature film Black Dog was nominated for the Sutherland Award at last year’s London Film Festival. (Jaques shot it over four weeks on a budget that wasn’t shoestring so much as battered old bootstrap.)

His second feature Sunny Dancer will boast the best and buzziest of young British actors, including Bella Ramsey, Ruby Stokes and Louis Patridge. Expect the first trailer to shatter the internet.

And on 19 August, Black Dog arrives on Apple and Amazon Prime to find the broader audience this extraordinary debut deserves. Depicting a road trip taken by two troubled teenagers – and so much more – the film embodies Jaques’s mantra of making the audience both laugh and cry. Oh, and there’s also another film and a TV show but he can’t talk much about those.

I caught up with Jaques on Friday morning over Zoom. He’s visiting friends in Devon: the shop run awaited after our call. (You can be one of the most exciting talents in British film and your mates will still send you to Tesco to fetch the booze.) His high-backed chair was very Bond villain – fitting for someone who’ll probably rule the world by 30. (And his mates will still be sending him on beer runs because that’s what mates do.)

We spoke about Black Dog, Sunny Dancer, artistic evolution and plenty more. Enjoy the conversation with a creative powerhouse and our future overlord. He’s a gem.

On 19 August, Black Dog launches on Amazon Prime and Apple. Must be a proud moment for you…

It’s so exciting. I've got some pretty big plans for that day about trying to make the film spread as far as possible. With little films like this, word of mouth is so important. I’m over the moon that it's getting a proper release.

It was really well received at the London Film Festival but now you are getting the broader audience that the film deserves…

It's a funny one. We walked out the festival with many four star reviews, a few fives, we sold out in two minutes. It was mad. And then you have to get distributors, which is challenging. We got Vertigo and everything took a while because that's the nature of British film at the moment.

It still feels like my film but I think on the 19th it won't feel like mine anymore. It will go out and it will be everyone else's. That's a really weird feeling. At the London Film Festival, you're still working because you're trying to get that distribution company, you're aware of everything that needs to happen afterwards. Now on the 19th it's released and bar doing some social media stuff, that's it.

We decided at a very early point that we were going to focus on digital because for a film like this, we can make a lot of noise on social media but also make a lot of noise among the film community. For me, it was making Black Dog accessible. With everything going on in the UK at the moment, I feel like we need more films about love and accepting adversity, you know what I mean?

George Jaques
Since the festival, people will have supplied their own interpretations of Black Dog. Have any of those interpretations deepened your understanding of the film?

Someone came up to me – they know my writing quite well, they've watched all my shorts. When I was making theatre I was focusing on socially conscious subjects, trying to make them a talking point and entertaining and provoking. And then I moved away from that; now I just want to make stories that make you laugh and make you cry. I don't care what genre, that's all I want to do. And this person was like, ‘George, a lot of the work you do is about giving people another shot at getting their childhood back.’ I thought that was really interesting.

My next film Sunny Dancer is a film about a group of young people in remission from cancer who go to a summer camp and it's all about the wild and feral things that happen there. But I guess in some ways they're getting another shot at being young again. Black Dog has that and the TV show I’m working on certainly has that. It’s quite a nice realisation that my work is almost growing up with me too.

I guess everyone wants to be a kid again on a certain level…

It is interesting. I didn't enjoy my school years. I didn't enjoy that part of life. My mom wasn't very well and I didn't enjoy school. I wasn't that into that. I think it's more about being so fascinated by people that have been forced to grow up too quickly because of grief or sickness. I think everyone slightly misses their younger self. It's a really interesting thing to write about because there's stolen dreams and there's misplaced youth and there's memories and there's moments that you wish you had done differently in hindsight. All these things.

I didn't have the usual sixteen to eighteen thing because I was running a company and putting theatre shows on and all that stuff. But I love my life now and I don't feel like I missed out. But I definitely didn't have that normal route a lot people have. I found it interesting that someone found that common theme.

I used to say the problem with young directors and writers at the moment is so many of them go, ‘here's my style, this is what I do.’ And I was like, you can't do that. You've got to look at a script and go, what's the best way to tell this story? Every story is different. When I made my first short film, I looked at that script and I went, this is how I'll tell this story. Same for Black Dog and Sunny Dancer – it’s a different language.

If you watch all my work, you might be able to pull some things out: oh, George likes using handheld camera work when he shoots young people because it keeps energy up, or George looks at people getting another shot of their childhood. And I find that really exciting because I learn as much about it as you guys.

Style inevitably evolves over an artist’s lifetime. Look at Picasso…

Style changes and you grow up and you change the way you shoot a scene. How I shoot a scene now is different from how I would've approached it when I was 18. You're searching for answers when you're writing. There's things in life that don't make sense or you find cruel or you find weird or you find funny. You explore those things. And that will always change and in five years there'll be something else I find fascinating or I'll revisit something. That feels really special.

What can you tell us about Sunny Dancer?

It’s my second feature. It stars Bella Ramsey, Louis Partridge and Ruby Stokes. It follows a group of misfits in remission from cancer who all have gone through something that's so traumatic. But this film is wild and it's feral and it's funny and there's not a single hospital scene. I was so sick of seeing all these cancer films that had long drawn out scenes of someone who's really ill. That’s obviously a lot of people's experience of cancer but I wanted to make a film where cancer was the least interesting thing about them. They have these skills, this whole life, because they are still teenagers.

We're so used to seeing people in hospital gowns being really unwell. Of course that is a part of it, but where's the films where they still want to go out and snog each other and party and have a close to a normal teenage life as possible? Even though this horrendous thing has happened to them, that's so cruel and so unfair. Obviously my mum had cancer, as you know, so it was very close to my heart. I just wanted to make a film that is basically a mix of Lady Bird and The Breakfast Club. It's this new film that we've not seen before and I feel so excited to be making it and making it with such exceptional people.

It's an amazing cast. How did you get those people on board?

That's just the beginning as well. I can't say who else is in it but it’s just the start. Ruby and I worked on Black Dog together, so when I was writing the script I had Ruby in mind. Everything she touches is exceptional, a remarkable actor. And Louis, I've known for a long time so I also had Louis in mind.

Bella's character, Ivy, I didn't have anyone in mind. My casting directors suggested Bella. We sent them the script and Bella read it and loved it and got on a Zoom with me. I've been on those Zooms as an actor – you are nervous because you're meeting the director and you want to impress them. But when you're a director, you want to impress the actor too and make sure they do the job.

At the beginning, I sheepishly went, ‘do you like it? Do you want to do this job?’ And Bella was like, ‘yeah, love it.’ And then we talked about everything other than the film! They're one of the most talented people I've ever met. They're an incredibly special talent. Everything they stand for, everything they do, is incredible and I cannot wait to bring the best of the young British talent together.

How do you know Louis? I saw him and Kit Connor at the launch party for Black Dog.

I grew up in Tooting and there was a local pub called The Althorp in Wandsworth. My dad happened to meet Louis's dad – this must have been about 2017, 2018 – and discovered both their sons were actors. This was before Enola Holmes had come out, before Louis was doing what Louis does now. I think I’d just made my first short. They put us in touch and that was it. I remember watching Enola Holmes come out and Louis's career going stratospheric.

He's an amazing, nuanced, incredible actor, but also one of the loveliest people. He's remained the same kind man I met way back when. He's watched me grow as a filmmaker, as an actor and I've watched him grow as an actor and it's so nice to be on set working together. It's an incredibly exciting role for Louis and I'm really excited to be partnering with him.

Do you also plan to work with Kit? You guys have known each other since childhood, right?

Yeah, we were at school together. I'd love to work with Kit. Kit is incredible. We were in Hamlet together at school, or maybe it was Macbeth. Kit was younger than I was but we did that together and Kit went to all my plays in the original beginnings of Athenaeum, he’s seen all my short films. I'm desperate to work with him and find that role and be reunited. Maybe we won't do Hamlet together. I feel like we've done that.

George Jaques with Keenan Munn-Francis and Jamie Flatters on the set of Black Dog
Jaques with Keenan Munn-Francis and Jamie Flatters on the set of Black Dog

Kit and Louis are both global stars. An increased profile is inevitable as your career progresses. Do you want that for yourself? Or is it something that fills you with trepidation?

That's a really good question. I feel very lucky because when I got my first lead I was 18. [An Amazon show that was ultimately cancelled before shooting.] That could have gone really massive and in some ways I wasn't ready back then.

When we announced Sunny Dancer, it went viral, it was everywhere. But it's for the right reasons, it's for the work. It's not because I want to be famous or anything like that. I just want to make great work. And if fame comes with it, it comes with it. It’s been amazing watching my friends navigate it, like Louis and Kit. How they haven't changed and how they remain kind and navigate some quite big stuff in the press. You either want to be an actor or you want to be famous – all my friends want to be actors.

Obviously you’re still at the beginning of your career. Do you have any long-term goals, maybe looking ahead ten, twenty years in the future?

If you look at what Margot Robbie is doing with LuckyChap Entertainment: Margo brings the partnerships with amazing directors and amazing actors and she puts them together. They have an overhead deal with Warner Brothers, which is really exciting.

When I started Athenaeum, it was a theatre company. We had in-house actors and it was so collaborative. We rehearsed the plays in my mum's girlfriend's basement. It was mad. I look at everything I was trying to do with Athenaeum and I go, well I want to be talent-led, I want to have relationships with amazing actors and directors and writers.

So I can call an actor friend of mine and go, ‘what do you want to do next?’ And they tell me and I go, ‘well do you want to write it? No? Okay, well here's a brilliant writer, here's an exceptional director.’ I want almost to bring that theatre company energy back and be a hub for talent. That’s what I want to keep growing as well. Build projects from the ground up with amazing talent and amazing collaborations.

Young talent was so overlooked for so long. We used to get told when putting a film together that young actors don't have value. If an older actor in their fifties says, ‘I'd like to write a film’, everyone tells them to go ahead. If a young actor wants to write a film, they're like, 'sure, sure. You don't want to stick to your lane?' Why? Just because they're 23 doesn't mean they can't write. Everyone can write.

I want to work with incredible young talent. Keep creating things that I'm proud of, things that make you laugh and make you cry. That’s the goal, existing alongside my filmmaking and my acting, is keep Athenaeum growing as this hub for talent.

You told me about the words inscribed by your door at home: “the goal was never to be famous. The goal was to make good work and be in good work.” Is the inscription still there?

Still there! And I have an office now – the inscription is just above the office door. I’m working with Embankment Films on Sunny Dancer, Hugo Grumbar is my executive producer. I've never felt so respected and excited by a company. They just go, ‘George, who is the next big one?’ And I'm like, ‘these guys!’ They get so excited by it. They're incredible and I feel so lucky.

I learned a lot about the industry making Black Dog. All those lessons, all the things that I learned informed Sunny Dancer but it wouldn't have been possible without Black Dog. Black Dog is the thing that nearly broke me. But it’s also the thing that made me.

It's the film that everyone told me was impossible. You can't shoot in four weeks. That's mad. You can't do a road trip on that budget, you can't do that many locations. And we just went, why not? Let's just give it a shot and we'll work it out. And that was really tough in moments but it was also the best because you learn so much, so quickly. We're the little film that might.

That's why I'm excited for the launch. Yes, we don't have millions to do all the TikTok dances and big campaigns but we've got a lot of people that love our film and a lot of support. Let's bring it on and get that film out there.
Here we have a film which is notable for being a showcase for young talent. This Black Dog (the title has been used before and also happens to be shared by a new Chinese film about to open in the UK) is the work of George Jaques who comes from South London. He is 23 years old and this is the first feature that he has directed. He is also an actor and in this instance the co-author of the screenplay which he wrote in collaboration with one of his leading actors, Jamie Flatters who is a year older. The other key role in what at times comes close to being a two-hander goes to Keenan Munn-Francis. The latter is 27 but neither star player has any difficulty in convincingly filling the roles of former school acquaintances who meet again by chance when in their late teens.

The part taken by Flatters is that of Nathan who has been living in London with his foster mother (Hattie Morahan). He also has a girlfriend (Ruby Stokes) but has decided that the time has come to seek out his sister from whom he had been separated when each was put in a different foster home. Nathan has her address in Scotland and plans to go there, perhaps permanently. It is just at this time that he comes across Sam (the role taken by Munn-Francis). Nathan intervenes on seeing Sam being mugged and only afterwards recognises the victim as being a boy he had once known. Although Nathan having just left work has money to travel north by train, he discovers that Sam is also travelling in that direction by car and Sam offers him a lift.

Black Dog could certainly count as a road movie in that the greater part of it portrays the journey undertaken by Nathan and Sam together. There are passing incidents en route but to spend so much time with just two characters in a car might have seemed a limitation. However, as a filmmaker Jaques has a flair for good images and camera movement while often favouring quick editing especially in the early expository scenes (his editor is Caitlin Spiller). In addition, the screenplay is astute in the way that it characterises both Nathan and Sam. The former is often seen as patronising (more experienced in life than Sam, he is not only the more outgoing but is keen to impose his views). Furthermore, we have seen his opportunist streak when, having recovered Sam's wallet at the scene of the mugging, he helps himself to cash inside it. Nevertheless, his former employer (Paul Kaye) has always believed that for all his flaws Nathan is good at heart. There is enough complexity here to give Flatters a good role to play and he meets the challenge admirably. The less worldly-wise Sam is quieter but more readily empathetic and the fact that he has health issues (early on we see him taking pills) arouses our concern. Perhaps most importantly of all the contrasted nature and outlook of these two central figures lead to convincing interplay between them and the performance by Munn-Francis is so well judged that he matches the skill shown by Flatters.

With a running length of 96 minutes, Black Dog is not a long film but its middle stretch does sometimes feel that it needs rather more incidents to keep it going to full effect. It's also the case that a few brief flashbacks work well enough at first but later are not always as adroit as they might be. However, as the film reaches its final third, we discover more about both Nathan and Sam and the way in which their past history has marked them. The extra drama that emerges is admirably persuasive even as it takes one by surprise. It may still be the case that one thinks of Black Dog as a small film, but it is a pleasing one that allows us to admire and appreciate the work of all three of the talents that are central to it.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn-Francis, Nicholas Pinnock, Paul Kaye, Ruby Stokes, Hattie Morahan, Amrita Acharia, Flynn Allen, Karla Marie Sweet, Martin Mora, Terence Rae.

Dir George Jaques, Pro George Jaques, Ken Petrie, Jamie Flatters and Ian Sharp, Screenplay Jamie Flatters and George Jaques, Ph Hamish Anderson, Pro Des Declan Price, Ed Caitlin Spiller, Music Blair Mowat, Costumes Lex Wood.

Athenaeum Productions/27 Ten Productions/Sharp House/Trademark Films-Vertigo Releasing.
96 mins. UK. 2023. UK Rel: 19 August 2024. No Cert.

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