Straw Dogs (1971)

Straw Dogs (1971) is a tense, unsettling drama-thriller about an American mathematician, David Sumner, and his young English wife, Amy, who move to a sleepy village in rural Cornwall to escape the violence David left behind in the U.S. What begins as low-level hostility and petty bullying from local men — tradesmen and townsfolk who resent and provoke the couple — steadily escalates into psychological torment and finally brutal, bloody confrontation when David decides to fight back. Watching the film, you’ll experience a slow-burn buildup of dread and claustrophobia: lingering camera work, simmering insults and provocations, and scenes that force you to confront how far a seemingly mild-mannered man will go when pushed. The climax is raw and violent, designed to shock and provoke moral questions about masculinity, violence, and the breakdown of civility. Expect an emotionally intense, divisive film that is as much about atmosphere and character as it is about physical conflict — disturbing, provocative, and hard to forget.

Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Runtime: 113 min

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

7.5 /10 75 /100 7.4 /10 7.5 /10