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The Friend


The Friend 
Streaming on Netflix 

What happens to a dog when the owner dies? He doesn't  know how to process the pain of loss or share his feelings with someone. Instead he whines and pines for the presence, that is forever gone. 

Iris, a writer, dealing with a  writer's block is a solitary New Yorker. Her mentor and best friend, Walter commits suicide and Walter's Great Dane, Appollo, is thrust upon Iris. Iris's life and her cramped apartment become chaotic with the arrival of the grieving beast. Nothing but being read to, soothes Appollo.

Along her journey from a reluctant dog owner to fighting many battles to retain him, she finds out herself, adresses her own grief and overcomes the writer's block. The grieving, past- his-prime, arthritic Appolo melted my heart with his saddened eyes. The Friend is a heartwarming flick about human-canine bonding. 

The movie directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel is an adaptation of the book by the same name by American writer, Sigrid Nunez. 

Preetha Raj


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