My quick rating – 2.7/10. You know you’re in for a rough time when the first thought you have upon meeting the cast is: “Perfect dog food, every one of them.“ That’s not just an insult, it’s the plot. A Breed Apart tries to serve up social media satire with horror thrills but ends up somewhere between Fyre Festival and a middle school AV club’s Jurassic Bark fan film.
We follow Violet (Grace Caroline Currey), the only halfway likable character, who accepts an invitation to a private island for what’s advertised as an influencer paradise but instead ends up on Dog the Bounty Hunter: Rabid Edition. The dogs? Supposedly legendary man-eaters. The influencers? Unemployed narcissists with the combined IQ of a toaster. And the writing? Let’s just say a junior high creative writing class would’ve sent this script back with “see me after class” scrawled in red pen.
The film does open with a bite—literally. Some iffy CGI dogs chomp their way through a victim in a sequence that promises excitement. That promise is a lie. Turns out, that was the best the movie had to offer, visually speaking. From that point on, the effects get so bad it’s like the animators fell asleep on the “smudge” tool. The dogs start barking like velociraptors, and flares explode like frag grenades, because physics apparently died before the first draft did.
There’s an early window scene that makes zero sense, even in a movie where Instagram clout equals survival skills. One minute, a character can’t drive a golf cart up a hill. Next minute? That baby’s moonwalking in reverse like it’s powered by Elon Musk’s imagination. Continuity? Logic? Please, those concepts were clearly devoured by the same dogs we constantly see (even though rendering them cost $11 and someone’s old laptop).
The island does look nice, though. So, kudos to the location scout. At one point, they find an old chair that says The Breed on it—an unintentional metaphor for how this movie tries (and fails) to ride the coattails of something vastly better. I am sure if they sent Michelle Rodriguez this script, she lit it on fire. IMDb notes that the screenwriters were “inspired” by The Breed (2006). Inspired how, exactly? By watching it blindfolded?
And the ending. Oh boy. During the credits, we catch a glimpse of what might’ve been an explanation for a major plot hole involving a character magically appearing on a boat. But instead of resolving it, the filmmakers must’ve gone, “Eh, let the audience figure it out. Or don’t. Who cares?”
To its credit, this isn’t quite a full #turkey, but it sure has drumstick energy. The cast tries. Grace Caroline Currey deserves better. I laughed a few times at its absurdity. We all do.
Final thought: A Breed Apart is a survival horror where the real challenge is not turning it off.
There are only a few streamers to choose from if interested in watching this.