Do you dare to relieve high school with this student-made Canadian film?

By: Daniella Lopez

If your best friend jumped off a bridge, would you too? In Therapy Dogs — which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January — the concept of reality and fiction frequently gets distorted and yes, these best friends will do anything together.

This documentary-style student film captures best friends Ethan Eng and Justin Morrice as they embark on their final year of high school. Along the way, we see the lives and stories of their friends. With high school ending, the daunting question of “What’s next?” is often implied. Yet, whether the film portrays an accurate reality remains a mystery, as scenes throughout the film toy the line between clearly real, obviously fake and somewhere in between.

In a virtual Q-and-A at the festival, Eng, the film’s director, said he and his fellow screenwriter Morrice started working on the film in Grade 10.

“We always wanted to make high school epic, that was the big thing and we wanted to mythologize it and put it into a story and use our friends,” said Eng. “It was kind of our version of trying to figure out what our lives meant at that time.”

In the opening scene, Justin is lectured by his mother while she drives about the importance of his final year in high school. That is, until Justin hops out of the moving car, the line between fact and fiction blurring almost immediately.

Now, cut to Ethan filming students inside his high school — Cawthra Park Secondary School in Mississauga, Ont. The catch? Without permission from the school, he discreetly records students, describing the film as a yearbook video, while filming his friends performing mischievous activities.

“We always wanted to make high school epic.”

— Ethan Eng

Throughout the film, viewers get an inside look into the mind of high schoolers showing their authentic selves. But, viewers will notice a few moments of tension; a run-in with the police, a conversation that turns violent and a do-or-die moment — because what’s high school without drama?

Both the opening and closing scenes of the film are shot with a higher-quality camera compared to the rest of the film; in these instances, the film feels serious and rehearsed. However, it feels fitting to have the film open and close with this type of cinematography, as the beginning and end of high school are often crucial times in a person’s life. In contrast, the rest of the film is shot by what appears to be an amateur; yet, it’s joyful and lighthearted.

Each scene is complete with multiple angles of each shot and lots of quick cuts. While the numerous cuts were initially confusing, it creates some form of suspense for the viewer; what will happen next? It leaves the viewer wanting to keep watching and in the end, each character’s arc culminates.

Eng said he always had a camera on him. “I’d be recording everything … having cameras stuffed in my pockets at all times, for different angles too.” Altogether, this makes the majority of the film feel authentic and raw.

Eng said he took inspiration from multiple movies and filmmakers, specifically Matthew Johnson’s movie The Dirties (2013), a comedy where two best friends film a revenge movie on their high school bullies, often blurring the line between reality and fiction. “[Johnson] really taught us a lot, especially that stuff with what’s real and what’s fake. I consider him a bit of a magician in that regard.”

In the Q-and-A, both Eng and Morrice said that the majority of the movie is real. However, that’s hard to believe when watching certain scenes, particularly at the movie's end. “I’d say even 100 per cent of everything we do in the movie is real, whether it’s emotional or physically real,” said Eng.

Justin’s emotions are the most interesting throughout the film. Initially, viewers notice his dread in the vehicle with his mom. Yet, when Justin is with his friends, his mellow nature shines through. The level of comfort Justin and Ethan have with each other throughout most of the film is obvious, and scenes never feel forced; the film feels like a tag-along between two best friends.

However, midway through the film, an awkward exchange between Justin and Ethan leaves Justin furious. It’s a shocking turn of events for the best friends who seemingly always agree with one another. It’s here that the film takes a drastic turn. The following scenes feel tense and awkward; perhaps an ode to the awkward stage of high school. But, the most surprising emotion exhibited by Justin nears the end of the film when a dangerous idea between the two friends goes wrong and the film shows Justin’s most vulnerable side.

Therapy Dogs has a unique perspective compared to other coming-of-age movies. Eng brilliantly captures the minds of high school students during a time in life when everything is up in the air. The film immerses viewers in the scene too, as the characters comfortably share their lives with the camera. While high school is a time of life that many never want to look back on, for those who watch, this film will create a sense of nostalgia.

Rating: 4/5