The Pet - Review

The Pet
Drama/Thriller
U.S. Release Date: 12/05/06
Running Length: 94 min
MPAA Classification: NR
Cast: Pierre Du Lat, Andrea Edomndson, Summer Nguyen, Steven Robert Wollenberg.
Screenplay: D Stevens 
Music: Chris Walden

The story follows a young woman, Mary, who’s emotionally vulnerable due to the death of her cat. Because her boyfriend was the cause of this death she’s left him as well. She’s about to be evicted from her apartment when Phillip, the charming aristocratic benefactor, arrives in her life. Phillip is part of the Global Slave Market or GSM, an organization which trains and sells human pets, though he’s never actually owned one on a long term basis. Recently his canine companion, a setter and show dog has died. Phillip decides that instead of finding another canine companion he would instead like to take on the responsibility of a human pet of his own. When Phillip and Mary meet he’s already had his people gathering information on her and following her.

After substantially overpaying her for the flowers that she sells in an open air market he invites her to lunch. She accepts. During this time they discuss her cat and her sadness over not being able to afford the cremation that will allow her to bring her cat’s remains home from the vet’s office. Phillip offers not only to pay for the cremation but invites her to his home so that she can give her animal a beautiful and final resting place.

When the remains are ready she is taken by limo to Phillip’s estate where they complete the funeral ceremony. Over lunch he brings up the idea of a human puppy which she laughs off at first. When He tells her how much he will pay her to be a puppygirl for a weekend though, she agrees to be open to the possibility. Phillip takes Mary into his deceased show dog’s trophy room. He puts the show collar onto Mary’s neck and renames her GG. This begins her training as his pet and her downfall.

Over the weekend she is naked, sleeps in a cage, is led on a leash, taken out to play catch, and shown to others that Phillip knows through the organization. When the weekend is finished he gives her the choice to either go free and return to her life with the two of them remaining friends or to accept an even more substantial payment to sign a contract and remain as his pet for the next six months. After some hesitation GG decides to accept. There is a brief period of time where she is allowed to return home to close out her affairs before returning to Phillips estate.

** More Plot Details & Spoilers Below **

When she returns to the estate she is branded and tagged. The number on her ear tag matches the number on a disk that the owner keeps at all times. This form of marking is common in the organization. The owner’s tag is necessary if/when the pet is sold on the open market. Once GG is settled her physical training begins. Charles, one of the other trainers in the organization has bet Phillip that his own pet, Taps, would be able to beat GG in competition. GG was an avid runner and her body is in wonderful condition, but her owner wants her to be ready for the competition.

Not only does she train during these months but she grows closer to her owner. This part of the movie realistically represents some of the real aspects of a power exchange relationship. GG submits deeper and comes to have the mindset of a human pet rather than a person who is playing the role of an animal. She submits herself to him, and he cares for her. There is a true exchange of power.

Soon it is time to make the trip to Utah and the headquarters of the GSM. GG and Taps do compete in front of other members of the GSM as well as a few guests of the organization. GG comes out on top every time. Everyone present remarks on what a perfectly trained pet she is and how profitable her sale would be if she were placed on the open market. Phillip insists that she is not for sale.

At the end of the evening Phillip carelessly drops the numbered disk that is necessary for sale of a pet. It’s picked up by Charles and he begins the process of placing GG on the open market without Phillip’s knowledge.

When the sale is completed a team is sent out to retrieve the property, to abduct her from Phillip’s estate and deliver her to her new owners where she will have her organs harvested. Phillip and the team argue over what is to happen but the team decides that they do not want to be a part of anything “ify” GG is placed in her cage. When no one is standing guard however another team arrives from the GSM. They inject her with something and she loses consciousness. She is once again rescued. Phillip tries to comfort GG but she becomes non-responsive and withdrawn. Within a short period of time she dies.

The last scene of the movie shows the man who was watching Mary/GG to obtain info about her for Phillip sitting in a convertible car just as he was in the beginning of the movie. This time he’s watching and reporting on another girl that we can only imagine is Phillip’s next human pet.

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The purpose of this movie is not to shed light onto the positives of a deep consensual power exchange relationship, but instead to open up the eyes of the world so that they can see how very real the dangers of the current open slave market is. It seems quite possible that the original intent may have had nothing to do with BDSM, consensual slavery or TPE relationships but that aspect was thrown in so that the BDSM community wouldn’t be in an uproar over slavery in general being presented in a negative light.

I do think that the writer did try to accurately portray the emotions of a girl in such a relationship however the addition of the beginning and end parts which involve an organization that buys trains and sells human pets for organ harvest purposes detracts from the story. In the end one is left with a bad feeling in general about those who do actually take part in real power exchange relationships on a day to day basis.

The acting in this movie was poor as was the overall quality. It was much like watching a sleezy pornographic film, but without the sex.

I guess the big question is whether or not I would recommend it to others. The answer to that question is no, however if you must see it I’d suggest using a rental service if possible or borrowing it from a friend. It is not worth the current purchase price on either an entertainment level or an educational level. I’m not even sure if I will be able to bring myself to watch the copy that I purchased again any time in the future.