Breeder Movie Review: Beware of the Dog (Breeder)

Alex Goyette’s Breeder is a tense enough thriller that unfortunately turns a bit tedious and predictable by the end.

Doheny plays the aforementioned Russell, a scientist researching bees who has quit MIT in order to pursue his ambition of helping said insects. He’s concentrating on his research project, but needs funding in order to succeed. This concerns his fiancé, Haley (Tanaya Beatty), who does support him, but is feeling the pressure from her family to have kids and settle down. It certainly doesn’t help that Russell’s last meeting with a potential backer fell through, with the man in charge asking him to come back when he gets his degree.

Things seem to get better, though, when Russell is contacted by Patti (Dot-Marie Jones), a poodle breeder with her own ranch, who is interested in financing his research project. Despite Haley’s concerns, he decides to go have dinner with the woman, arriving at the ranch by himself and at night. And when he finally enters the house, he encounters something unexpected: Patti has five daughters (four young women and one kid), with Ainsley (Maddie Phillips, of Gen V) seemingly being the friendliest one. But Patti herself isn’t particularly friendly, so when she finally tells him what she truly wants from him, he doesn’t know how to react. Would he be capable of doing something so insane in order to be able to finance his work? Or would his fidelity to Haley prevail?

Logically, I don’t want to include too many spoilers in this review. The nature of Patti’s ask is paramount to understanding the film, yes, but it’s also the kind of twist that works better if the viewer knows nothing about it prior to entering the cinema or pressing play on their remote. Suffice it to say, it does deal with some of the aforementioned themes, making Russell think about the nature of his work, but also the way humanity meddles with animals’ genetics. Patti asks him to do something that people normally don’t do, but that would be normal amongst wild animals and pets.

It’s a rather enticing idea, then, which is why it’s so disappointing that Breeder isn’t as successful as it could have been. The film starts strong, with a thick atmosphere surrounding Patti’s ranch, and some interesting performances by Jones and the young actresses playing her kids. But as the story progresses, the viewer realises Goyette doesn’t really have a lot to say about the themes he’s presented, which makes the overall experience feel redundant and even tedious at times. Moreover, the way the movie concludes is quite predictable and not very surprising; I’m sure the idea was to make the ending feel inevitable, but it actually ends up feeling anticlimactic.

Now, if you’re expecting to get scared by Breeder, I’d suggest you adjust your expectations. This isn’t a traditional horror film, full of jump scares or creepy imagery. This is more of a slow burn; a story that unfolds with patience and that requires the viewer to connect with Russell as a character, despite him acting a bit stupidly at times (there are many instances in which he could have escaped Patti’s ranch unscathed, to be honest). Despite the film’s flaws, though, it does manage to be quite suspenseful during its first two acts, turning Patti’s house into a prison for some of its characters, and making it clear that our protagonist is dealing with an unhinged, crazed and obsessive villain.

Additionally, most of the performances are rather good, which helps the viewer suspend their disbelief during the majority of the film’s runtime. Daniel Doheny plays Russell as a very smart young man who, despite his considerable talents and interest in saving the bees, is full of self-doubt, feeling insecure about his work and his relationship and even his ability to convince people of the importance of his research. And once he arrives at Patti’s ranch, he does a good job of reacting to her demands with incredulity and shock, baring it all (literally) at certain times, allowing the character to feel naked both physically and psychologically. His chemistry with Maddie Phillips’s Ainsley is considerable, despite them only sharing a few scenes.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about his chemistry with Tanaya Beatty’s Haley. She plays the character as unemotional and distant, which never allows the viewer to believe in their relationship and the importance it gains later in the story. In contrast, Dot-Marie Jones is quite successful at playing Patti as an aggressive and stubborn dog breeder who believes in eugenics and the genetic superiority of certain individuals over others. It’s those beliefs that compel her to call Russell to her house and make him do things he doesn’t want to do, and that turn her into a fascinating antagonist. She’s big, she’s mean, and she doesn’t know she’s crazy, and Jones never turns her into a walking caricature or clichéd horror villain.

Even though I felt a little underwhelmed by Breeder, I can’t help thinking about what it’s trying to say and some of its more outlandish scenes. This is certainly an ambitious thriller; a movie full of fascinating yet underbaked ideas that starts strongly and suspensefully, only to end with a whimper. Most performances are good; Jaryl Lim’s cinematography is moody and textured, and the central idea is not without potential. Maybe that potential wasn’t completely fulfilled, but there’s still some interesting material in Breeder. Hopefully, Goyette will be able to tell a more satisfying and cohesive story with his next film. 

Breeder will be released in US theaters on October 28, 2026.