Film Review: Appalachian Dog

It’s not often that I watch movies that are straight to streaming, but when Appalachian Dog popped up on my radar, I was intrigued. 

Billed as a tense reunion between a tailor husband and seamstress wife trying to stitch their old life together with each of them pulling at the thread, it seemed appealing enough. Pair that with a moody, dramatic trailer, and I was sold. Fortunately for me, ‘Appalachian Dog’ didn’t disappoint.

Writer and director Colin Henning has done an amazing job of creating a story that pulls audiences in. What starts off as a slow burn, builds into a gripping, layered portrait of complex human experiences that will leave you a bit baffled to say the least. This movie definitely fits the bill of an American gothic, managing to make even the most mundane life moments at least slightly unsettling. From the unsettling score of the film to the vignettes of the Appalachian wilderness, the tension only grows throughout the film. And when life unravels for our characters, things fall apart fast. 

The characters are about as awkward as you’d expect 1940s Appalachians to be. Teddy, played by Colin Henning, is about as gawky as you could imagine. It’s evident early on that he’s dealing with trauma from the war, but his brand of peculiar extends beyond the scope of your average PTSD. We learn that in his life before the war, he was a tailor along with his wife Marion, played by Georgia Morgan. Now that he’s returned from the war, the two are trying to reclaim the normalcy they once shared. In Teddy’s absence, Marion has brought on the talented hands of Peggie Darrow, a Black woman with excellent sewing skill, to handle the stitchwork in her husband’s absence. Needless to say, there’s a bit of reluctance on Teddy’s part to keep her around. With the help of Cate, a friend of the couple dealing with her own marital struggles, both Teddy and Marion seek out fulfillment. Much of the dialog is blocky at best, but I can only assume that’s because of how 1940s backwoods Appalachians spoke. It’s definitely an acquired taste, but I’ll give credit to the cast for committing to the time period.

While Henning’s story is an interesting one, I will admit that it lacks a certain depth of character. We have a cast of potentially complex characters, but we aren’t shown enough of any one person to really explore potential deeper themes. The runtime of the film would be better used replacing some of the Appalachian landscapes with lore development. What was the war like for Teddy? Given that he can’t read and generally couldn’t see, what did they have him doing? There are multiple plot points that I wish Henning took the time to reveal, and the film suffers in their absence.

All things considered, Appalachian Dog is a captivating story that makes for a great movie night at home. It’s got just enough depth to inspire a conversation, but not deep enough to evoke tears.

Appalachian Dog is available now on Prime Video.