Dogs Don’t Wear Pants 2019

Juha’s life has been profoundly shaped by a tragic event: the drowning of his wife seven years ago. Now, as a heart surgeon who is deeply overwhelmed by grief, he raises his teenage daughter, Elli, largely alone. The emotional distance between Juha and his daughter is palpable, and he struggles to reconnect with her while trying to navigate his own shadowed feelings. During moments of solitude in his home, Juha is seen clinging to remnants of his past love—he wears his wife’s dress and perfume while engaging in solitary acts of masturbation, an intimate yet haunting display of his longing and unresolved grief.

A turning point occurs when Juha has a chance encounter with Mona, a mysterious [Krista Kosonen], a dominatrix who practices BDSM. Their meeting sparks something in Juha’s suppressed emotional world—an urgency to feel something alive again. He becomes increasingly drawn toward Mona, and what begins as a seemingly casual interest quickly escalates into a dangerous engagement with the BDSM scene. Juha finds himself hypnotized by the sensations of asphyxiation, which induces hallucinations of being underwater with his late wife, blurring the lines between reality and his yearning for the past. Their initial interactions are intense and unfiltered, with little negotiation, but Mona soon introduces safety measures, such as giving Juha a ball to hold when she strangulates him, ensuring that she can stop if he begins to lose consciousness.

In his private life, Juha’s obsession deepens. He gives Mona his wife’s dress and perfume, creating an almost obsessive attachment to her, fueling his need for emotional release. His focus shifts from professional life—where he later violently lashes out when his hospital pass card fails—to personal pursuits, including sneaking away from work, smashing a door in frustration, and neglecting his daughter’s commitments, like a canceled concert. Instead of attending, Juha seeks Mona once again, driven by an uncontrollable need to confront his feelings.

As his obsession with Mona intensifies, Juha’s actions become more reckless. One night, he stalks what he believes is Mona, only to be pepper-sprayed by a stranger. His desperation leads him to pursue his daughter’s music teacher, taking her out to dinner and gifting her his wife’s perfume. Their night culminates in intimate contact, where Juha asks her to wear the perfume and participate in BDSM acts, such as strangulation, which she finds both unusual and somewhat humorous.

Juha’s fixation culminates when he follows Mona to her flat, demanding she hurt him physically—strangling him in exchange for the pain he craves. Mona agrees, and during this encounter, she prepares to remove one of Juha’s teeth with pliers. Initially resisting, Juha ultimately submits to the procedure, which becomes a symbolic act of surrender. She then wraps his face in cling film, realizing that Juha’s apparent intent was self-harm and possibly suicide. With overwhelming emotion, Mona frees him, tears flowing, and the two share a complicated, intimate moment before Juha physically assaults her.

In a moment of clarity—or perhaps despair—Mona locks herself in another room, and when she returns holding his wife’s dress, Juha has already left. He later finds Elli alone in a park, smoking and lost in her own world, but nevertheless tries to mend their broken relationship. He invites her to the Natural History Museum, their shared childhood tradition, symbolizing a desire to reconnect. Elli, however, departs on her boyfriend’s moped, further illustrating the growing distance.

Juha’s internal struggle continues, and when he receives news that his psychological evaluation was clear, he admits to a colleague that he lied, acknowledging the turmoil beneath the surface. In a final step towards reclaiming some sense of freedom, Juha visits a BDSM club dressed in fetish gear. Surrounded by others exploring similar boundaries, he begins to dance and enjoy himself—an act of liberation. When Mona enters the club, their eyes meet, and he smiles at her, a subtle acknowledgment of their shared pain and tentative hope for connection amidst darkness.

Throughout the film, Juha’s journey is one of intense emotional fluctuations—grief, obsession, self-destruction, and fleeting moments of intimacy—all set against a backdrop of profound psychological and physical exploration that challenges notions of love, loss, and healing.