Dogman

Marcello runs a small dog grooming shop in a working-class neighborhood, a quiet man whose kindness hides a stubborn resolve. His days mix clipped fur, chats with regulars, and a wary distance from rougher corners of town. That balance shatters when a former violent boxer named Simone starts using fear to push the neighborhood to his will. Simone targets people around Marcello, turning every encounter into a test of who has power. As the pressure grows, Marcello wavers between resisting intimidation and fearing the cost of silence. The film follows how his attempt to protect dignity spirals into acts that blur the line between defense and coercion, with far-reaching consequences. Its patient pacing and moral ambiguity linger after the frame.

Directed by Matteo Garrone, Dogman is based on a story by Ugo Chiti and Massimo Gaudioso with Garrone shaping the adaptation into a stark crime drama. It premiered at the 71st Cannes Film Festival in 2018 before reaching wider audiences.

Dogman grossed about $5,080,147 worldwide, a modest but respectable return for a stark Italian crime drama released largely in art-house venues and seen by audiences in several European countries and select festival markets, drawing attention in France and Germany, globally.

At Cannes 2018, Marcello Fonte won the Best Actor prize for his restrained, ferocious performance, a breakthrough moment for Garrone's ensemble. The film drew widespread critical praise for its precision, social critique, and the way it renders violence without sensationalism, elevating Garrone's reputation in awards circuits worldwide, a global spotlight.

Dogman stands out for its hushed, relentless mood rather than bombastic shocks. It uses a working-class landscape and a quiet, documentary-like realism to examine how power and fear distort ordinary lives. The result is a slow burn that lingers, influencing discussions about portrayals of masculinity and neighborhood violence in cinema.