This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Totally fascinating study done with 40 dogs in the UK and their owners reveals that almost 90% of the pets experienced separation-related disorders (anxiety, stress, panic) both actively and inactively throughout the duration of being left home alone, and about 75% of the owners had no idea. Active stress behavior includes toileting (peeing or pooping indoors, solely from stress not need), repetitive pacing, distressed howling and barking, and constant nervous anticipation by doors and windows. Dogs that experienced their stress inactively were shown through cortisol testing in their saliva to have biologically undergone as much negative stress effects, despite their outwardly quieter response. Certain owners, despite being previously told secondhand of of their dog's loud barking and howling by neighbors, had never seen/heard what happened for themselves. When they finally do through footage captured in this experiment, many respond very emotionally, feeling guilty for causing their pets unhappiness and wanting to help relieve them of it in the future. That's where the scientists and canine behavior expert come in, to help owners train their dogs to learn how to be more independent and relaxed when left alone. We get to see how this plays out in 3 unique homes.Really eye-opening in helping anyone understand their pet's needs, the importance of an animals mental health, and how to train them to maintain mental wellness and general longevity in life.