Pet Shop Days
Directed by Olmo Schnabel
Written by Galen Core, Jack Irv, Olmo Schnabel
Starring Jack Irv, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, and Maribel Verdú
Rated R
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
In select theaters starting March 15

by Shayna Davis, Staff Writer

The directorial debut of Olmo Schnabel, Pet Shop Days follows Alejandro (Dario Yazbek Bernal), a young man on the run from his Mexican crime boss father, Castro (Jordi Mollà), as well as a guilty conscience, following a car accident involving his mother, Karla (Maribel Verdú). He lands in New York City and meets Jack (Jack Irv), an aimless 20-something still living with his parents, Francis and Diana (Willem Dafoe and Emmanuelle Seigner), and working part-time at a pet store. The two form a quick bond, and the increasingly unstable Alejandro ropes the naive and enamored Jack into his dangerous lifestyle.

At no point does Pet Shop Days leave the viewer bored. From the first five minutes of the film to the last five minutes, there is some sort of plot twist lurking around every corner, leaving one wondering: who lives like this? Do people like this actually exist? Are they okay? (If this movie tells us anything, it’s no).

Due to a few prominent plot holes, many of the relationships between characters, namely Jack and Alejandro, contain an accelerated sense of intimacy that left me feeling like I had missed something. After meeting through one small interaction on the street, Alejandro pulls his car up to the pet store where Jack works and insists he get in with him. Without hesitancy, Jack obliges and leaves the store unattended in the middle of his shift to spend the whole day with a guy he met one time for five minutes. I suppose that’s just the power of attraction. The outrageous behavior displayed at many moments in the film isn’t entirely to its detriment. As I said, it will never leave you bored, and a few parts are actually quite funny. One scene that is burned into my brain involves Alejandro taking Jack to a strip club. He buys them both lap dances and then proceeds to spill his heart out to Jack while they’re simultaneously getting butt cheeks clapped in their faces. Another favorite scene shows Alejandro purchasing sex from a sex worker for him and Jack to share, but the night ends with Alejandro furiously kicking the woman out of their hotel room after she majorly stinks up their bathroom. It’s not just the two young men that display outlandish behavior either. Prepare to see every parent get way too physically comfortable around their grown children. Overall, I would say a sense of humor and suspension of disbelief are needed before viewing. It never becomes clear whether this film is taking itself deeply seriously or is conveying it all with tongue-in-cheek.

On an artistic level, Pet Shop Days is definitely a gorgeously made film. Shot on 35mm by Hunter Zimmy (Funny Pages, The Scary of Sixty-First), the camera work is dynamic and serves the frenzied film well. Just in looks alone, it feels reminiscent of 80s-era New York City films like Bette Gordon’s Variety or Scorsese's After Hours. The use of 35mm goes a long way here, giving the color tone a richness and grit that adds another layer to the story.

I would be remiss to not mention Willem Dafoe’s performance. Dafoe gives a hell of a show, per usual, as Jack’s father, Francis. Francis is a deeply flawed person who is trying desperately to relate on some level with his distant son while also trying to maintain a sense of control over his family. There’s a fantastic scene during a family dinner at a Chinese restaurant that Dafoe dominates. I cannot imagine what family would talk the way that they do to each other, with the parents making crude remarks about their children's sexual lives, but it’s fascinating to watch. We also get treated to the vision of Francis drunkenly dancing around a living room by himself and 5 minutes later kissing his son straight on the lips. Any Dafoe-heads will certainly appreciate the role.

Across the internet, there has been a discussion surrounding the film’s validity due to the nepotism involved with its creation. Director Olmo Schnabel is the son of acclaimed artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, which likely accounts for how the film got its funding and landed its more prominent actors. I understand the frustration towards a person with little experience being handed money and creative freedom simply for having a certain name and upbringing. That frustration is valid. However, I believe every film deserves to be judged purely for its content, regardless of how it came to be. Pet Shop Boys is not a perfect film. Despite its financial stamp of approval from Martin Scorsese and Jeremy O. Harris (both executive producers on the project), it contains a lot of flaws, and I’m not sure it knows what broader message it is trying to convey. In spite of its flaws, it is a pretty well-crafted piece of work that is undoubtedly entertaining. A Gen Z bisexual Bonnie and Clyde story—kind of.

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