Therapy Dogs
If it does nothing else, “Therapy Dogs” gets to the difficulty of figuring out who you are, and what the future brings, in high school. Seniors Ethan and Justin (played by the film’s director, Ethan Eng, and his co-writer, Justin Morrice) decide that they are going to make the ultimate senior video, and along the way, they reveal the struggles that come with growing up, and how much social status in high school means. At one point, an argument arises because of a simple musing about the future, and friendships and their lasting power. One thing that I’d like to say to anyone who’s young, and thinks that your high school friends will remain close for the rest of your life- that can be true (I’ve been very fortunate in that)- but often, their place in your life will change depending on where you are in life. Once the structure of school is removed, real life is more fluid, and transitory. Embrace it.
Going into my senior year, I honestly was not sure what I wanted to do. I never had any particular drive towards an area, although I did find myself pushed into continuing music as I started to get more into film music. But it wasn’t until I learned about the Music Industry program at Georgia State that I had a path forward. With Ethan and Justin, you feel as though film is where they want to go, but what does that mean for them in the moment? Filming under the guise of doing a Senior video for the entire class, “Therapy Dogs” gives the pair an opportunity to look at not only their own lives going forward, but what it’s like for their classmates.
The film is done in the Cinéma vérité style of a documentary, which is fitting, because it allows for quick cuts from scene-to-scene, moment-to-moment, while maintaining a narrative throughout the span of a year. There are moments of visual style, along with moments of silliness. The aforementioned fight is very reflective of those “end of the world” fights a lot of us have had with our best friends at times, but when the chips are down, they don’t seem that important. There’s also a discussion with a classmate who’s tripping at a party, and they capture a classmate asking another one to prom by way of song. They also visit a memorial of a student who killed themselves just before graduating. Why would someone do that? If you can’t think of a reason, perhaps your memories of high school are more clouded than others have.
“Therapy Dogs” is an endearing film about a time in our lives that can bring out the best in us, or the worst of us, but ultimately reminds us that high school was a time of trying to have fun, while struggling with who you would be in the future. Having the ability to watch something about that time can be therapeutic, something Ethan and Justin understand quite well in their movie.
