Breeder Review | Alex Goyette | 2026 | 1 hr 37 min | R (US)
- Director Alex Goyette
- Starring Daniel Doheny, Dot-Marie Jones, Tanaya Beatty
- Released 28 October 2026 (US cinemas)
- Runtime 1 hr 37 min
- Certificate R (US)
- Distributor Independent Film Company and Shudder
- Subgenre Psychological horror, dark comedy
- Reviewed by Hope Madden
Broke and anxious, geneticist Russell drives five hours to dinner with Patti, a dog breeder who has sent him a cheque to fund his research. Her interest in his genes may not be purely academic.
Breeder is the new horror film from writer and director Alex Goyette, and it sends a desperate young scientist to dinner with a dog breeder who has very firm views on good stock. This Breeder review comes from Hope Madden, whose horror movie reviews are a regular fixture at Ginger Nuts of Horror. Daniel Doheny plays Russell, an out of work geneticist drowning in student debt, and Dot-Marie Jones plays Patti, the breeder who wants to fund his research. Madden finds the film uncomfortable, darkly funny and smarter than its setup suggests, though not without a wobble near the end. Here is why she thinks Jones makes every scene worth the drive.
Breeder takes a lurid old horror setup and puts a man on the breeding block, and that one shift makes it uncomfortable, darkly funny and properly smart. The third act struggles, but Dot-Marie Jones, all quiet menace and plain, terrible logic, gives a masterful performance.
Breeder Review: A Gender-Flipped Breeding Nightmare
Alex Goyette has done something pretty fascinating with his new horror film, Breeder. He takes a somewhat familiar genre trope and, by inverting gender roles, creates an entirely different kind of horror.
An anxiety riddled, out of work geneticist facing 200k in student loan debt, Russell (Daniel Doheny) makes a desperate leap when a 20k check and an invitation to dinner arrives in the mail. It appears a dog breeder named Patti (Dot-Marie Jones, mesmerizing) has taken an interest in his research and wants to fund it. All he has to do is drive 5 hours out into the middle of nowhere to have dinner at her place.
Having seen a horror movie in her life, his girlfriend (Tanaya Beatty) is skeptical. Having seen a horror movie yourself, you know she’s right to be. Because Patti has moved on from breeding poodles, and she thinks Russell and his big brain make him the perfect stud.
Goyette’s clever script reconsiders a concept mined for lurid horror. The genre is lousy with tales of young women lured to isolated spots to become breeders. (Son of Sara is a recent, fine example.) Because the victim is a man in Goyette’s nightmare, everything shifts.
Breeder is incredibly uncomfortable, often darkly humorous, but the script is smart. The logical nature of science—animal science, in particular—informs character actions in ways that are both unsettling and authentic.
Doheny’s anxious, spineless good guy is spot on. You root for him almost as much as you want to smack him. All the performances are strong, but every scene in the film is elevated by Jones.
She uses a quiet, awkward menace, flashes of vulnerability, and sheer size to terrify. The performance is so true to the character, a dog breeder who manipulates situations to train her litter. But the manipulation never feels devious. Patti’s almost simple, so straightforward and logical is her thinking and behavior. The purity of this performance is masterful.
The film struggles in the third act, but nothing can take away from Jones’s work.
3 1/2 stars out of 5
The Verdict: Is Breeder Worth Watching?
3.5out of 5
The verdict
A clever gender flip on a grim old trope, carried past a shaky third act by a masterful Dot-Marie Jones.
Watch it if: you like your horror uncomfortable, darkly funny and smart, with a villain whose menace comes from plain logic.
Skip it if: you need a film to land its final act, or you would rather not squirm through dinner.
Casper and Molly, the resident Ginger Nuts of Horror dogs, have read this Breeder review and wish it known that nobody in this house is breeding anybody, least of all a geneticist. For canine horror with a gentler outlook, they point you to our list of horror movies where the dog lives.
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About Ginger Nuts of Horror
Ginger Nuts of Horror is an independent horror review and culture site based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Edited by British Fantasy Award nominee Jim McLeod, it publishes horror book reviews, film reviews, author interviews, features and cover reveals. Ginger Nuts of Horror won Best Inclusive Film & Book Review Platform at the SME News UK Enterprise Awards 2026.
