No Dogs Allowed

Steve Bache's 2024 German film follows Gabo, fifteen. He looks like an ordinary teenager, but he has tendencies he knows to be wrong and cannot control. He meets a much older man online and the boundaries begin to blur. The film does not build the subject as a crime narrative. Gabo has harmed nobody yet and can find nowhere to ask for help; the narrative does not excuse him while showing plainly the absence of preventive support. Bache treats the subject with restraint; no scene depicts the abuse of children and the camera stays with Gabo's isolation. Carlo Krammling leads. It is the director's first feature. Who it's for: those who can watch European independent cinema on difficult subjects. Who it's not for: viewers sensitive to paedophilia and child abuse; the film takes it as its direct subject and intends to be disturbing.