Raindog

If one singular hot button issue has dominated 2025, it’s AI. What once was a trope limited to science fiction is now seemingly reality, and that reality is closer to dystopian than we may like it to be. Raindog taps into the dizzy excitement of the AI boom, while gesturing at something more sinister and uncomfortable beneath the surface. In doing so, writer and director Euan Munro successfully navigates a minefield of clichés to deliver something that feels entirely original: a short and punchy science-fiction film that will have audiences desperate for a rewatch and hopefully questioning the world around them.

The premise of Raindog is elegant in its simplicity: roommates Eli (Munro) and Stuart (James Crutcher) have developed a weather forecasting Large Language Model (LLM, more commonly known in reality as AI) that may be able to predict more than just the weather. The two are giddy in their excitement, keen to test the limits of their new creation, until they begin to question the fabric of their reality. The film is shot entirely from the perspective of their computer screen, putting the audience in the proverbial shoes of the LLM named Raindog. The camera never shifts from this position, and it's through this lens that the entirety of the film is viewed. It’s interesting as a literal framing device, but what elevates Munro’s short is how this perspective begins to take on narrative and thematic purposes in a delightfully clever twist. Few stones feel unturned in Raindog’s intriguing premise that evolves in a truly unpredictable direction, and there’s no doubt that audiences will be kept on their toes watching Eli and Stuart wrangle with their creation.

The filmmaking on display may appear on the surface as quite minimalistic, but the creative choices all coalesce to give the short a great sense of energy. Munro and Crutcher give naturalistic and compelling performances, with a lot of the film’s success riding on them. Raindog feels play-like in its presentation, with most of the runtime taken up by the two lead actors sharing a fairly compact stage. It’s fortunate then that the two leads are able to handle the drama, and it’s a credit to them that the stakes feel personal and infinite at the same time. Combined with stellar editing, sound, and music, Raindog feels very competently put together, moving confidently through its scenes to deliver a well earned and satisfying climax.

Raindog may take place in a world somewhat unlike our own, but like a bite-size Twilight Zone, it reveals something about our reality. AI is a technological marvel and has the capacity to change the world in so many positive ways, but it must be used responsibly, and the cost of this technology could be earth-shattering. There are personal costs too, of course, and many would do well to remember that life exists way beyond the boundaries of screens.