The thriller with elements of black comedy "Heel" (the original title, meaning the command for dogs to "heel") intrigues with both its title and synopsis. The working title of the film was "Good Boy," which also references the plot. What is the new f...

At the center of the plot of "Heel" is Tommy (Anson Boon), a boy who doesn't yet know much about himself. Is he good or bad? More likely the latter. He loves nightclubs, taking whatever he can get his hands on, humiliating teenagers on camera, and cheating on his girlfriend without a shred of remorse.

His days, or rather nights, are spent in a drunken haze until Tommy wakes up in the basement of a strange house, chained to a wall. First, he sees Chris (Stephen Graham), who speaks to the boy sternly but politely. Such a delicate kidnapper. Then he meets his strange wife Catherine (Andrea Riseborough), who seems more like a shadow than a living person. Riseborough's character is initially very taciturn, and her whole demeanor suggests that a great tragedy has occurred in her life – what exactly, one can only guess. The couple also has a suspiciously obedient and friendly teenage son, Jonathan (Keith Rakussen). A suspicious family, to say the least. As is their new housekeeper, Rina (Monika Frajczyk).

Why do these pious people keep the kidnapped Tommy in the basement? The viewer will have to find the answer to this question themselves. At first, Tommy, like a wild animal, tries to escape the trap, the cage. But he quickly realizes that his usual behavior doesn't work here. And here's the surprising thing – the more Tommy meets his kidnapper halfway, the more freedom within the house he gets. The chain becomes longer, life becomes more familiar, as familiar as it can be under these strange conditions. And now Tommy, like an older son, gives advice to the father on how to win back his wife's heart.

On one hand, the film shows a twisted model of relationships between the hero and his new "family"; on the other, these relationships are not devoid of simple human closeness, picnics for birthdays, albeit under the influence of a substance that knocks you out completely so you don't remember the way. There is a bitter irony of life in all this, and for some reason, the famous phrase from "The Little Prince" comes to mind: we are responsible for those we have tamed.

"Heel" seems to flirt a little and scare a little, but overall, it plays a fairly open game, the rules of which we all know and have seen many times before. Nevertheless, the film is still worth watching, if only because Tommy's charm and Chris's paternal sternness combine perfectly.