Dog of God

Description

Dog of God (Dieva Suns) is a hybrid of folk horror, historical drama, black comedy, and surrealism.

In a 17th-century Livonian village, during a witch trial, an 80-year-old man appears, claiming to be the “Dog of God” — a shapeshifter who protects people from demons in hell.

The plot is based on real trial records of witchcraft and werewolf cases from 17th-century Livonia. The film explores complex themes of religious fanaticism, collective hysteria, sexual repression, and the collision of pagan mythology with Christianity.

Shot using rotoscoping (animation layered over live-action footage), the film creates the effect of living paintings or a psychedelic trip.

The directors the Abele brothers describe their work as “experimental,” positioning it against mainstream animation. Critics have called it a “hallucinatory nightmare” and “aggressive adult animation” in the vein of Ralph Bakshi.

God’s Dog is a brutally frank, bloody, and grotesque film that was selected as Latvia’s submission for the 2026 Academy Awards.