A provocative new red-band trailer has been released for Dog of God, an animated werewolf horror film set to premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. A Latvian-American co-production, the film is drawing attention for its bold blend of genres and its unapologetically explicit content. Billed as a mix of horror, dark comedy, mystery, and surrealist animation, the film stands out as one of the most unconventional entries in this year’s festival lineup.
Directed by an as-yet-unannounced creative team, Dog of God is set in 17th-century Livonia, a region corresponding to present-day Latvia and Estonia. The narrative takes its cue from the real-life Livonian werewolf trials—among the most infamous supernatural investigations in early modern Europe—infusing historical elements with grotesque fantasy and absurdist satire.
According to the official synopsis, the story takes place in a decaying, vice-ridden village where unrelenting rain and moral collapse set the tone. When a sacred religious relic disappears under mysterious circumstances, accusations of witchcraft quickly spread. Tensions escalate with the arrival of an elderly werewolf who identifies himself as the “Dog of God.” This 80-year-old figure brings with him a strange gift known only as “the Devil’s Testicle”—an artifact whose significance is as bizarre as its name suggests.
The werewolf’s arrival sets off a cascade of surreal and increasingly chaotic events, ultimately spiraling into a feverish, orgiastic ritual that engulfs the entire village in a storm of carnal madness and supernatural hysteria. The film’s unapologetic visual style and explicit themes are front and center in the trailer, which showcases hand-drawn animation, grotesque transformations, and scenes of sexual debauchery.
Dog of God is listed under multiple categories on the Tribeca Film Festival’s official program, including Animation, Horror, Comedy, and Mystery. The hybrid tone and graphic imagery mark the film as a deliberate departure from mainstream animation conventions, aligning it more closely with European underground cinema and adult animation traditions.
The film follows on the heels of Latvia’s breakout animated feature This Ain’t No Flow, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature last year. That film, which told the whimsical yet melancholic story of a cat’s journey through urban decay, helped elevate Latvia’s status in the global animation scene. With Dog of God, the country appears poised to push creative boundaries even further.
No official release date beyond the festival premiere has been announced, but given its controversial and eye-catching premise, Dog of God is expected to generate significant buzz both within and beyond the festival circuit. Whether it will secure broader distribution remains to be seen, but early reactions suggest that the film is likely to become a cult favorite among fans of transgressive animation.
The NSFW trailer is now available online, offering a first glimpse into the film’s unapologetically wild tone, stylized visuals, and disturbing humor.
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