Dog of God
Dog of God (Latvian: Dieva suns) is a 2025 adult animated comedy-horror film from Latvia and the United States. It is co-written, edited and directed by Lauris and Raitis Ābele and is based on the true story of Thiess of Kaltenbrun, a man who calls himself a werewolf with roots in Latvian folklore.
The movie stars Regnārs Vaivars, Einars Repše and Kristians Kareļins. With a budget of €720,000, it is a Latvian-American production from Tritone Studio and Lumiere Lab, distributed by Media Move.
Dog of God world premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6, 2025, and was Latvia’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, though it did not receive a nomination. The story is set in a 17th-century Livonian village called Zaube, where a shepherd’s maid is on trial for witchcraft. Thiess proclaims himself a werewolf, drawing on Latvian folklore and shamanic elements, and the village’s fate changes as the tension peaks.
Principal photography took place in 2022–2023 at the Riga School of Media and Arts studio in Latvia. The film also screened at Fantasia International Film Festival, the Octopus Film Festival and FrightFest, and ESC Films handled the French rights. It had a limited Latvian release on September 2, 2025, before a nationwide release on October 16. On Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 22 critics gave it a positive review. The running time is 92 minutes, and the languages are Latvian and German.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:33 (CET).