Synopsis
An idle part-time college lecturer is annoyed by the yapping sound of a nearby dog. He decides to take drastic action.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Lee Sung-jaeGo Yun-ju
- Bae DoonaPark Hyeon-nam
- Byun Hee-bongJanitor
- Kim Ho-jungBae Eun-sil
- Koh Soo-heeYoon Jang-mi
- Kim Roi-haShadow Man
- Kim Jin-gooGrandmother
- Im Sang-sooJoon-pyo
- Kwon Hyeok-pungStaff
Recommendations
- 90
Time Out
Beautifully directed, unsentimental and darkly funny. - 83
The A.V. Club
Barking Dogs Never Bite is uneven, unnecessarily provocative, and exhausts its central premise long before the closing credits, but it’s invigorating to watch regardless. After all, Bong is just doing what New Wave artists do: experimenting, breaking rules, showing off. - 80
Paste Magazine
In the way it revels in dry humor, in the hilarious, almost unconscionable ease with which Bong swings between mirth and the macabre, Barking Dogs Never Bite is more of a comedy than any of the director’s later movies. But the most fascinating thing about the film is the forlorn soul that emerges from beneath the comic trappings. - 80
Empire
Director Bong’s on song for his dark debut. A little rough around the edges, Barking Dogs Never Bite still delivers the blackest comedy lightened by some thrilling filmmaking, a clear calling card for Parasite. Caninophiles beware. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Charmingly quirky. - 70
Variety
While the slender idea feels stretched at feature length and fails to brings its themes of societal chaos together in a fully cohesive way, the film is fresh and lively enough to score further festival bookings, particularly at events devoted to new talent. - 50
Slant Magazine
Bong's debut is not all it could be, but any film that has a line as hilariously warped as "Jesus, that thing's hairy" deserves some recognition. - 40
Film Threat
All squeamishness aside, this just isn’t a very pleasant film in general. There’s not a single sympathetic character in the bunch, except for maybe Hyun-nam and she’s a lazy bore. Everyone else is just plain, well, mean. For all the brilliance in some of its action scenes, this sluggish flick feels like a stretched out graduate thesis film.
