Junkyard Dog 2023

One summer in a village tucked away in rural southern France unfolds a quiet, observant drama about friendship, longing, and the weight of small choices. Two twenty-something friends, Dog Anthony Bajon and Antoine Miralès Raphaël Quenard, spend their days drifting through sunlit streets, filling the hours with banter, bursts of mischief, and a shared restlessness that keeps them from growing too comfortable with the world around them.

The village’s heat seems to settle on them as Miralès—loud, sharp, and capable of both wit and crude humor—navigates his own clever contradictions. He has trained as a cook but makes a living by selling weed, choosing bravado over restraint even as he occasionally reveals glimpses of depth beneath the bluster. Dog, the quieter of the pair, bears the weight of Miralès’s teasing with a patient, almost serene tolerance that masks a thread of irritation just beneath the surface.

Elsa [Galatea Bellugi] arrives in the village, a recent literature graduate taking time to figure out her path. She becomes acquainted with both Miralès and Dog, drawn to the quieter warmth of Dog and slowly let into his world. Elsa’s presence shifts the dynamics, and a romance blossoms between her and Dog—an intimate, unhurried connection that glows with a tenderness that those around them start to notice. Miralès watches with a growing, uneasy jealousy, his teasing growing sharper and more pointed as the summer wears on. The tension between his need for control and the blossoming bond between Dog and Elsa slowly fractures the fragile equilibrium of their trio.

A simple misunderstanding sets off a dangerous chain of events. Dog finds himself at odds with a gang of local hoodlums, and one night he runs into trouble in the village streets. In a moment of fear and loyalty, he calls Miralès for help. Miralès arrives, ready to stand with his friend, and together they fend off the attackers in a tense, roiling confrontation. The fight ends in tragedy when Miralès’s dog is fatally stabbed—an accident that leaves a hollow ache in both friends and reshapes what the summer could have been.

In the aftermath, Dog and Miralès begin to rebuild what they have lost. They bury Miralès’s dog and, with the weight of the events pressing on them, Dog leaves for the army, stepping into a new phase of his life. Miralès, left to pick up the pieces in the village, finds work at Paco’s restaurant Nathan Le Graciet, slowly turning the page from the chaos of the season to whatever comes next. The two men drift back toward each other, their bond tempered by jealousy, danger, and the quiet generosity that remains between them, even as their paths diverge.

What remains is a portrait of late adolescence cast against a warm, sunbaked landscape—a narrative about companionship that endures through strain, forgiveness, and the small, honest acts that anchor people to one another. Through the seasons and through the heat, the film stays true to its core: the fragile, stubborn resilience of friendship and the ways in which love, loyalty, and loss can redefine a simple summer into something unforgettable.