Based on a true story, The Heirloom is about a couple who adopts a dog (in real life they adopted the dog from GTA founded rescue Save Our Scruff) to try and solve their own issues, but also while wholly wanting a dog. The intentions aren’t exactly the greatest – please don’t adopt a dog unless you’re fully ready to — but it turns into a beautiful story of looking in and outward and being there for the ones who need you the most, even if they can’t speak themselves. The Heirloom focuses on a real couple, portrayed by themselves, and is absolutely neurotic in its essence, but overall is a very beautiful message featuring a very beautiful dog named Milly.
The movie focuses on Eric (Ben Petrie) who is trying to make a movie, but his process – like I’m certain many others can attest to – is messy and all over the place. He is trying to organize his thoughts and script, while his partner Allie (Grace Glowicki) is sidelined and supportive of Eric’s project but wants to adopt a dog, something Eric can’t fathom or truly wrap his head around at this time. They eventually and inevitably adopt Milly and she is quite the handful, she’s a traumatized rescue and the effort and work that goes into a dog, regardless of trauma or not is a lot but the film decides to have some fun with it. While they go through their own horrors with Milly (things new dog owners tend to go through, breed specific, size specific, over cautious anxiety inducing incidents), there is a lot of levity in the movie. The movie that Eric ends up making when he realizes his movie isn’t going to work or side steps it at least, is a retelling meta version of the story of how he and Allie ended up with their beloved Milly.
While breaching into real life and making a meta movie about the real facts that happened it seems Petrie is blending real life with his feature, which brings something extraordinary to the screen. The only thing that truly irked me, as a dog owner, is that Allie wanted Milly to be vegan — the consequences of that are avoided in the film but heavily noted that you shouldn’t make your dog vegan – and that is correct, they’re carnivores, please do not make your carnivorous dogs vegan. If you want to refrain from keeping full blown meat products in your house, there is kibble – nothing would cross contaminate with your own food – please don’t make dogs vegan.
While The Heirloom isn’t a polished film – in any way of the word – it works showing both the multitudes of how messy it is to make a film and how difficult and messy it is to own a dog. I will not preach about how one should adopt and not shop – but that is a point I stand behind and Save our Scruff does great work (along with all the other rescues). The Heirloom is a poignant, hilarious, and comedy of errors in a sense that packs a punch and features a very cute dog that will surely steal your heart and some terrific, despite a little neurotic human performances as well.
