Dogman

★★★★ OUT 19 october / CERT 15 / 103 mins director Matteo Garrone cast Marcello Fonte, Edoardo Pesce, Alida Baldari Calabria, Nunzia Schiano

THERE’S NOWHERE BLEAKER than the seaside when the fun stops, and it looks a while since anyone enjoyed themselves in the rundown setting for Matteo Garrone’s brutally sad saga. Marcello (Fonte) is content enough running a dog-grooming parlour and scuba diving with his young daughter. Yet he can’t resist dealing coke and, after doing a year behind bars for a crime neighbourhood thug Simoncino (Pesce) committed, returns to take revenge. Fonte’s transformation into a pitiless avenger isn’t entirely convincing, but he and Pesce make a hideously grotesque double act and, consequently, this remains a savagely compelling study of trust, honour and folly.