Movie Review on Strays

“Strays”

Screen Rant: This movie was so funny. It’s hilarious. But it’s also like, a toxic relationship that your friends are trying to pull you out, with emotional depth, right?

Josh Greenbaum: I’m glad you got that. It is all of those things. So I’m glad you felt that.

Strays sheds light on the realities of abusive relationships, using humor to highlight the warning signs and offer a cathartic message for victims. The film emphasizes that victims of abuse are not responsible for their abusers’ failings and should not internalize feelings of worthlessness. True friends and healthy relationships do not demand perfection but instead offer support and love unconditionally, empowering individuals to stand up for themselves.

For a raunchy revenge comedy, Strays has a surprisingly touching message about abusive relationships. Josh Greenbaum’s movie begins with Will Ferrell’s Reggie, an adorable and optimistic Border terrier, being abandoned hours away from his home by his owner Doug (Will Forte). Fortunately for Reggie, he meets a pack of streetwise strays including Bug (Jamie Foxx), Maggie (Isla Fisher), and Hunter (Randall Park) who help him navigate where to sleep for the night, scavenge for scraps, and how to appreciate his newfound independence. Even after getting a taste of freedom, however, Reggie still just wants to reunite with Doug.

When his friends learn about the years of physical and verbal abuse Doug put Reggie through, they’re understandably horrified. Reggie’s dreams of reuniting with Doug become a mission of revenge, but along their perilous journey to give him some karmic payback in the most brutal way possible, Reggie learns how to stand up for himself, and by the end of Strays, he’s finally able to heal. Strays uses humor to not only highlight the realities of a toxic relationship but also show the warning signs, and offer a silver lining for victims that’s as cathartic as it is hilarious.

You Don’t Have To Be Perfect To Be Worthy Of Love Strays Movie Reggie For as long as he lived with Doug, Reggie only ever wanted to be the best dog he could be so that at the end of the day, Doug would tell him he’d been a “good boy.” Reggie always put Doug’s needs above his own, but Doug refused to reciprocate with any positive acknowledgment like a treat or physical affection. The “Fetch & F***” game that led to Reggie’s abandonment (Doug takes Reggie out to the middle of nowhere and throws a tennis ball to distract him while he drives away, cursing when Reggie inevitably finds his way home) symbolizes the power dynamic Doug created to control Reggie’s self-esteem.

At one point, Reggie tells his new friends that if he had just never pooped in the house, or had never knocked over Doug’s bong, Doug wouldn’t have left him. The truth is, no matter how hard Reggie tried, and how many times he brought the tennis ball back, he was never going to be a “good boy” in Doug’s eyes because he had impossible expectations. An abuser will try to convince their victim that they need to be perfect to be worthy of love and weaponize their failures against them to the point where victims come to internalize their feelings of worthlessness as the goalposts keep getting moved.

You Are Not Your Abusers Failings Will Forte in a doorway in Strays Unbeknownst to Reggie, Doug only bought him because his girlfriend wanted a puppy, but after they broke up, Doug no longer saw him as a worthwhile companion. In fact, Doug blamed Reggie for the breakup, citing that if Reggie hadn’t played with his stretchy toy (another woman’s underwear) then his girlfriend wouldn’t have ended their relationship. In reality, it was Doug who ruined the relationship with his girlfriend by cheating on her, and Reggie simply exposed his owner for the deceitful partner he was.

Aside from not being able to sustain a healthy relationship, Doug was also being kicked out of their house, and couldn’t hold down steady employment, problems he blamed on Reggie. An abusive relationship often functions with one partner projecting their failings and insecurities onto the other partner rather than working to better themselves. Reggie internalized all the horrible things that Doug said to him without being able to understand that they stemmed from Doug’s hatred for himself and that the only “bad dog” in the house was Doug.

True Friends Love You No Matter What Voices of Isla Fisher, Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Randall Park in StraysVoices of Isla Fisher, Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Randall Park in Strays There’s a moment during the home stretch of their journey where Reggie reconsiders his motivations and actually leaves his friends behind because he thinks there’s still a chance that Doug loves him. Abusers often sow a seed of hope in their victims to keep them dependent on their abusive relationship, and it takes not only self-awareness but objectivity from friends, to understand it’s done with the intent to control and manipulate. Fortunately, Reggie’s new pals don’t abandon him and show up just in time to reinforce Reggie as he stands up to Doug.

Like Reggie’s pack, who love him whether he’s a “good boy” or a “bad dog,” true friends don’t demand perfection, and a friend or partner in a healthy relationship would never set someone up for failure so that they could control them at their lowest point. Doug kept Reggie’s self-esteem low so that he’d never stand up for himself, but with Reggie’s newly chosen family in Strays, he has the support and confidence to live his life how he wants as a stray, and even guide others on their path of independence and self-actualization. A Strays 2 sequel can show that the best revenge is Reggie living his best life.