The planet is a rancid shithole ruled by murder, rape, and as we get to the second half of the story, unbridled American fascism, but that doesn’t mean we can’t cackle at our own demise. Yet the film, even at its most bitter takedowns of human cruelty, never lets go of a playful sense of humor that skewers man’s futile goal of superiority in a world that has crumbled beyond recognition. If you’re looking for a role model or any glimmer of hope for civilization in A Boy and His Dog’s world, an abrasively cruel yet inevitable result of man’s folly and penchant for destruction, you’ve come to the wrong place. Yes, in a world where all civilized behavior is thrown out of the window and the reptilian brain rules, this rapist boy and his manipulative, enabling canine buddy are as close to any depiction of humanity as we will get.

“She could have been used three or four more times.” As the twangy and uplifting main theme plays over the credits written with a cartoonishly happy font-following a rather crude masturbation joke no less-it gradually dawns on us that these two are our protagonists. “They didn’t have to kill her,” he complains to Blood. Vic makes it to the girl and is disappointed to find out that another gang has already raped and murdered her. As they bicker about strategy, it becomes clear that Vic’s partner is a shaggy sheepdog named Blood (voiced by Tim McIntire), with whom Vic communicates telepathically. A scraggly young boy named Vic (Don Johnson) communicates with his partner as they track a female human, a very rare commodity in this world. It’s the post-apocalyptic barren desert landscape of 2024’s America.

Brain Movies by Harlan Ellison