‘Sick Puppy’ Turns Marriage into Murderous Chaos

A serial killer trying to settle into suburban domesticity becomes the centre of a volatile marriage in Sick Puppy, the new darkly comic thriller arriving in select cinemas and on digital platforms from 22 May through Dark Sky Films.

Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Jay Reid, the feature shifts attention away from the murders themselves and instead focuses on Charlie, a woman determined to reform her husband John after years of violence. Natasha Calis stars as Charlie opposite Brett Geddes as the killer attempting to abandon his old habits in favour of a quieter existence centred around pottery and suburban routine.

That fragile attempt at normality begins to unravel when police scrutiny threatens to expose the couple’s past, forcing Charlie into increasingly desperate decisions to protect the life she has built. According to the official synopsis, her determination to keep John “on the straight and narrow” comes at a growing personal cost as denial, loyalty and buried impulses collide.

The film first emerged on the genre circuit with its world premiere at FrightFest in London last year, where it screened in the festival’s Discovery strand. Reid described the project at the time as a “love story steeped in violence”, drawing inspiration from true crime cases and psychologically driven thrillers rather than conventional slasher formulas.

The director has cited a real-life case from his university years as an early influence on the screenplay. Reid became fascinated by reports surrounding the wife of a convicted murderer who claimed to have been manipulated into complicity, despite suggestions she may have played a more active role. That ambiguity forms the foundation of Sick Puppy, which examines emotional dependence and moral compromise through the perspective of someone choosing to remain beside a killer.

Alongside Calis and Geddes, the cast includes Dylan Taylor, Rachel Boyd, Julia Dyan, Precious Chong, Tony Nappo and Elizabeth Bell.

Reid previously worked on projects including Down the Road Again and Cardinals, but Sick Puppy marks his first feature as both writer and director within the horror-thriller space. Shot in Hamilton and Toronto, the production blends bleak humour with escalating psychological tension, leaning into awkward domestic situations as much as violence.

Sick Puppy arrives in select theatres and on VOD platforms on 22 May 2026.

Sick Puppy trailer