The Altered States program (now part of the larger series Alt) goes to the wall with this inspired anticomedy about a video artist stuck in a dog-grooming job (Mickey Rourke’s daughter is a client) and saddled with a rat infestation, a mentally challenged landlord called Honey, and a super-macho German producer who despises weakness. And then Cora turns up, played by Sonja Kinski, who’s definitely a Kinski. The film’s glitchy analogue style is a blast, and director Michael Reich is happy to construct a little musical montage out of the detailed cleaning of a dog’s anal glands, but something endearing (star Mike Pinkney, mostly) rises out of all the elevated amateurishness.

Georgia Straight, September 2016