Yes...this movie sucked. I don't think most people understood the movie. I figured out the entire plot in the first 15 minutes.
In case you are confused, it is an ALLEGORY (I HATE movies where the threat is an allegory for something else.) To understand the movie, you need to understand 2 things:
1 - Dogs seem to sometimes sense things that we don't (like when your dog stares at the corner looking at the ceiling)
2 - Dogs can detect illness, including cancer.
So.....here are the clues:
1 - Conversation with sister (Vera?) when she says that dogs can detect illness in their owners.
2 - Main character enters bedroom coughing, gauze on arm (from chemotherapy), overflowing ashtray on the nightstand. He has LUNG CANCER.
So, this is what the movie is about. It's the dog's perspective of experiencing his owner dying and sensing the lung cancer. Oh, and the image of the black tar monster? Do you know how lung cancer presents? Black, tarry lung. It's an ALLEGORY! DO YOU GET IT?
It's very film student. To be fair, I'm a healthcare provider, so it was very obvious to me. But, once I realized there was never any external threat to the dog, the movie was soooooo boring and pointless. I respect the effort and I love that small, independent, experimental films are making it back into the cinemas but...man did this movie suck.
And don't get me started on the audio. That is a whole other discussion and I don't have the energy.