It’s Saturday night in Buenos Aires, and best friends Enzo, whose dreams of being a radio DJ are spinning nowhere, and Ricardo, who is trudging his way up in his father’s law firm, need to blow off some steam. Having “borrowed” a Mercedes from the parking garage that he supervises (in as much as he does anything at all), Enzo convinces Ricardo to accompany him on a harmless outing for a few drinks.

When the boys emerge from the bar, however, the Mercedes has disappeared—along with the casework files that belong to Ricardo’s father that Ricardo left on the back seat. This triggers a desperate plumbing of the Buenos Aires underworld for the missing Mercedes, which escalades into some bizarreness involving a sociopathic repo man, a cougar drug dealer with a boy-toy named Teddy Bear, and a fluffy white poodle with a mistaken identity.

What distinguishes Nacho Sesma’s debut feature is a dry wit, an arch sensibility and an absolutely brilliant crew of new actors whose comic inventiveness consistently surprises. “Never make an important decision after 1:00 a.m.,” is a philosophy Enzo repeats to himself but manages to break as the wee hours continue to descend into dangerous absurdity. Part nightmare, part comedy, and all fun, Dogs’ Night marks an energetic debut by a director to watch. – Jaie Laplante

This film is part of the Jordan Alexander Ressler Screenwriting Competition.