One of my friends used to talk about his pet dog—I think it was a Rajapalayam—back in India. One day, there was a verbal argument between his parents. The pet, losing its patience at some point, took the responsibility of supporting my friend’s mother: it stood up, placed its front legs on his father’s chest, and started barking heavily.
I do not know how many times he told me this story, but every time, I listened as if I were hearing it for the first time. He loved his pet just as much as the pet loved his family until its last day.
Let me tell you about another personality. During the 2024 Singapore Writers Festival, Theodore Baskaran’s mention of his pet, as well as the good and bad traits of Indian pet owners, was worth noting. On both occasions, I was a mere listener, wondering at their love for their pets.
Such love is portrayed in this movie, Heart of the Beast (Released 2026).
This is an action/adventure film. An ex-Navy SEAL officer goes to the Alaska forests to spend time with his pet and combat dog, Odin. But an unfortunate incident causes his flight to crash, forcing them to survive in a remote, snow-covered forest without any human help.
Navy SEALs are the special forces of the US Navy. These commandos are trained to operate in high-risk operations. They undergo the most rigorous training, unlike other military units, because they take on missions like counter-terrorism, covert operations inside enemy territory, and espionage. This is the force that attacked and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
Odin, his pet, is trained in a similar manner. After retirement, both the hero and the dog suffer from war-induced PTSD, supporting each other through it. I liked the dialog in that movie – “I showed him wars, instead he showed me love…”. Why such innocent creatures should be trained for wars and take responsibility of executing the ideologies of egoistic and war-mongering world leaders. But human is human always.
Without boring heroism, the movie depicts their struggle to survive against frozen temperatures, the hero’s heart condition, and harsh terrain. The visually pleasing cinematography captures the landscape beautifully.
My kids did not like it. Unsurprisingly, there are no over-the-top heroic deeds in this movie expected by them; it is mature and realistic. But that is precisely the reason I liked it.