Popular reviews

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  Review by kársten ★★★ 6

  On my hands and knees BEGGING Bong to make a film with a jazzy score like this again.

  Sadly this is definitely the weakest I’ve seen from him. These ideas he throws around in each scene are interesting to watch but they also don’t feel like they’re doing anything some of the time. One of the best things about a Bong Joon-ho film is that you know none of that time will be wasted. But this could have been cut down by 20 minutes and been just as if not more effective in my opinion. I will say, this does a wonderful job at showcasing how precise and efficient Bong is with his visuals. 

  I think I’ve seen all his films now! At least those I have access too! Yay!

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  Review by Jay ★★★★ 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  bong movies are just people hiding in basements

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  Review by Taylor Williams ★★★★ 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  A little rough around the edges, some questionable editing decisions, and the end is maybe a hair too long, but it’s clear that our boy has had it from the start.

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  Review by reibureibu ★★★★½ 15

  Bong Joon-ho's most underrated as far as I'm concerned, and his most successful in portraying the absurdity of poverty. Though his films always have a strong political penchant here it manages to be woven at its least-conspicuous but no less is it any pronounced, various depictions of class and its struggles forefronted in its central narrative pull that render the myriad of lower-class responses to their circumstance evident and as such attaining a political comprehension. Whatever absurdity of the upper-class exist, they are de-prioritized in not being depicted; the only existences that matter here are those awaiting false promises to trickle down. In the meantime they bark and bite amongst each other to be the top dog in the bottom rung.

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  Review by iana ★★★★ 3

  the blueprint!!! ahh did not expect to love this as much as i did but then also it’s BONG

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  Review by Jake Cole ★★★½ 1

  Bong's first feature is his weakest, though its intimate scale and low-stakes black comedy makes it easy to see how finely detailed his direction is. Dig the scene of the dog-stewing janitor in the bowels of the apartment complex relating a ghost story to a colleague. The decrepit lamp above them burns out, prompting the man to place a large flashlight on the ground pointing up to give his face the classic campfire story lighting, with cutaways to underground corridors that suddenly seem larger and more ominous as he talks of a spirit being trapped in them. Or the exquisite visual plotting of chases around the complex, the Scooby Doo-esque use of multiple planes for farcically confused pursuit. It may…

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  Review by Joe ★★★★

  I cannot condone the things that happen to dogs in this movie - I suspect the veracity of that opening disclaimer is predicated heavily on how exactly you define the word "harmed" - but on a purely cinematic level this is like 99 and a half percent pure, Bong Joon-ho has a Spielbergian talent for coming up with magical visual grace notes and cramming them into every scene - whiskey spinning like a tornado in a shot glass, a drop of blood falling into a copy machine, an iron rod appearing to impale a dog from behind, slow-motion chases, matching close-ups, color coordination, just completely, unjustifiably gorgeous.

  I wish Bae Doona was in every movie.

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  Review by Christina ★★★ 4

  “shouldn’t you be at school?”
  “what for? my dog is missing. i don’t want to study.”

  beginning his sardonic saga of what lurks beneath us, barking dogs never bite exhibits an adored auteur’s brilliance in his early stages. bong’s burgeoning talent and trademarks glide seamlessly through frenzied jazz and fantastic photography—verbalizing its series of traumedies. a lot of ravenous folks who don’t care for puppers in this one but it’s countered by the cute pooch savior, bae doo-na (she honestly carried the movie). though it falls flat in some areas, it’s the best dognapping flick i’ve seen this month! 

  my last *cinematic* bong rip! 

  BJH ranked

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  Review by Darren Carver-Balsiger ★★★★

  Bong Joon-ho's debut feature, Barking Dogs Never Bite, is darkly comic but very amusing. As a comedy-drama about killing dogs, I should probably have to hand in my vegan card for enjoying it so much. However it is so compelling and enjoyable and Bong was clearly talented from the outset of his career. There's loud music and fun camerawork, and the plot is both funny and weirdly moving. Bong's usual undercurrent of socially conscious themes is present here, through depictions of poverty and the corruption of academia. There are also ideas about gender, as one man is emasculated and a pregnant woman faces discrimination. Barking Dogs Never Bite is not as refined and as sharply intelligent as Bong Joon-ho's later films, but it is nevertheless an intriguing and entertaining piece.

  Bong Joon-ho Ranked

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  Review by reibureibu ★★★★½

  Having seen (and fallen in love with) Mother and Parasite, I wanted to go back and watch all of Bong Joon-ho. His movies have a sharply comedic take to them, but rarely in a way that distracts from their dark drama. And while I was excited to watch the better-known movies Okja and The Host, I admit I was hesitant to go back to Barking Dogs Never Bite.

  And it's because I usually don't like directorial debuts. I don't know what it is, but for some reason they tend to really irk me. Whether it's because the director is still finding their voice or perhaps they haven't yet practiced restraint, there's always something in that first movie that I tend…

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  Review by anya jane

  hulu says this is rated g but it is not!

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  Review by Noah Thompson ★★★½ 1

  No animals were harmed during the making of this film.

  If that's literally the first thing that pops up in a movie you're watching, you're going to have an interesting time. I'll get something straightforward out of the way: Despite all of the endangerment towards them in the movie being portrayed in a (to me) very humorous way, if you do not like seeing anything bad happening to dogs whatsoever, you're going to want to skip this one. If you're like me, where you love dogs to death but would laugh everytime one is dangled from a rooftop during a movie, have I got the flick for you. Barking Dogs Never Bite is the directorial debut of Bong Joon Ho,…