All Bark No Bite: Borgia’s Doggy Domestic Never Gets Going
For Uruguayan Federico Borgia’s solo directorial debut, Prince, the filmmaker demonstrates a confident grasp of visual language, but his eagerness to focus on the look occasionally overwhelms the film’s ambitions. Conceived as an offbeat satire of class tensions, social status and clashing ideals, the film gestures toward something provocative and subversive, yet an underlying un-polishedness keeps its ideas from fully catching fire. What should feel daring and incisive instead struggles to find its footing, leaving a film more intent on the dazzle element than lassoing in the viewer.
Living with his former lover Isabel (Maitina De Marco) in her elegant house, Jaime (Roberto Suárez) now her loyal butler tends to the every need of both her and her prized Afghan Hound Prince. In between lounging around the pool gulping Negroni’s and struggling to do much with her existence, she and Jaime find solace in Prince’s countless best in show wins at crufts-esque dog competitions. Suddenly, Isabel dies and leaves her house to Prince, only to be claimed by her human relatives after the dog’s death. Jaime must now battle with Isabel’s greedy son Carlos (Esteban Bigliardi) and granddaughter Victoria (Cecilia Marani) all while protecting Prince and the house with all the verve of a tepid, off kilter version of Knives Out.
While the set up of man against a tyrannical family against a dog is solid and ripe for quirky humor the film never gets out of second gear. It’s as if Borgia has told his cast to give early Lanthimos style performances but his actors and revelations aren’t quite in-sync to carry it off. A central relationship with Jaime’s estranged son Diego (Salvador Gaetan) is bizarrely handled and lacks any urgency. A hint of their reconciliation is a constant theme but Borgia often decides to go from one direction to the next and never focuses on the kind of character development that might offer some sort of humanization for these strange people. There are constant dynamics between each of these characters that are supposed to ramp up the tension but there’s also a relaxed and blasé nature intended to play dead pan that sucks any life and stakes from the conflict. It’s hard to care what happens to any of these people when it’s their aesthetic that has been prioritized over their person. Prince is like we’re jumping through endless hoops.
Reviewed on October 18th at the 2026 London BFI Film Festival (70th edition) Thrill programme. 94 Minutes.
★★/☆☆☆☆☆
