UNDERDOGZ
2026 · 2m
Directed by Tamara Babeau, Martin Bourdier
In the waiting room of a veterinary practice, two old men size each other up, each accompanied by his bulldog — until a canine elegance contest gets underway, stoked by the old men's oversized egos.
Picked by Zoe
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A genteel setup that could've been a greeting card, but Babeau and Bourdier let the bulldogs do the actual subversion — the dogs become the film's conscience while the men perform their vanity, which is the move that makes this land.
The elegance contest premise sits squarely in a lineage of Keaton-era physical comedy, and the formal symmetry of the staging — two men, two dogs, escalating stakes — shows restraint that respects the tradition it's working within.
In a 2-minute window, the decision to let the bulldog personalities carry the emotional weight while the men's egos spiral makes every second count; that tonal inversion is what transforms a simple waiting room gag into something that actually breathes.