Directed by Roe Moore and written by Laura Thomas, she thought she’d always be on the inside looking out…until a robotic dog gave her a reason to step out. Isolated by depression and anxiety, Esther spends her days watching the world pass by. After a failed attempt to connect, she makes an unexpected choice: she orders a robotic dog named Luno. Starring: Mariana Arôxa, Erik Orjiako, Eve-Yasmine Saoud-Easton and Anne Arreguin.
When you enter Walkies, you’re met by a pensive tone which creates an interesting blend of contemplative yet light-hearted. Those themes of depression and anxiety are brought through very easily, but Roe Moore doesn’t approach them with a heavy cloud or dark, defeatist demeanour, her style provides an openness and almost a curiosity.
The writing from Laura Thomas matches that with a simplicity of sorts. It would have been an arduous task to try and delve into the many layers on these issues in a handful of minutes, so Thomas instead focuses on that idea of companionship and getting outside of your bubble. It nicely taps into how letting yourself close off to the outside world can make things worse, so a small act of taking a walk, and having someone, human or robotic, to encourage that is incredibly helpful. Something that’s well represented by Mariana Arôxa’s performance, capturing the nervousness and hesitancy.
It does also feel as though there’s a good balance between using technology to make the first step but not entirely relying on it. It presents as almost a middleman, not quite ready to approach strangers and make new friends because of that anxiety, but Luno helps to bridge that gap. It’s a sweet story but it can come across as extremely sentimental, which is a lot to do with the aesthetic and directorial style. There’s a softened, commercial edge to it, which does feel intentional to a certain degree, but also limits the impact of Walkies as it loses some of its sincerity.
Walkies takes a gentle approach and highlights the helpfulness of companionship and encouragement to make connections when struggling with depression and anxiety. It’s a surprisingly light tone to take with a difficult topic but it works. It can feel overly sentimental or with viewed through a touch of a rosy lens, but you can see the good intentions behind that. It’s sweet and wears its heart on its sleeve.
FilmCarnage.com 