Movie Thoughts: June and Kopi (2021)

• Released: January 28, 2021
  
• Directed by: Noviandra Santosa
• Running time: 1 h 30 min
• Rating 3.5/5

Synopsis

A young couple takes in a stray dog that's afraid of children. From here on we see how their lives progress as their daughter Karin grows older and she and the dog, June, grow very close.

My Thoughts

Yet another dog movie, huh.

Overall I thought this was a really cute movie with a pretty bittersweet ending. It's nothing groundbreaking and honestly pretty low-stakes, but it's still a movie with a decent amount of heart to it.

The plot revolves around the family consisting of Aya, the mother who loves June, Ale the husband (who dislikes June and is apprehensive that she might attack their young daughter) and Karin, their young daughter who develops an unusually close bond with June. There's also the dogs, of course, June being the stray and Kopi an older very mellow pitbull who is closest to Ale. Once June is adopted and Karin is born, we see how her relationship with June grows stronger. 

When Karin is six years old, she and her family go out on a family trip, leaving the dogs behind. Their irresponsible caretaker back home leaves the gate open, leading to June (and later Kopi) running away and traveling to their family's vacation spot in hope of re-uniting with her family. Just in time, because Karin runs away after being picked on by a bully and ends up lost and hurt in a forest with her asthma affecting her badly. June and Kopi work together to re-unite the daughter with her parents before its too late. However, in the process of keeping Ale and Karin safe, June ends up in a poisoned animal trap and cannot be saved, with her eventually moving on peacefully beside Aya because of her injuries. The movie ends with Karin adopting a puppy who somewhat resembles June and Ale having truly grown to love the late June, albeit too little to late.

Overall a movie that's just pretty cute and charming. I didn't really see the dark ending coming, but at the same time there is the more positive note to the story that June died saving those she loves (even if Ale didn't return the affections at the time). And of course that Karin is taking in a new puppy who she'll probably grow another strong bond with.

I'm normally not a big fan of stories where the dog dies ending with the main characters instantly getting a "replacement" dog, but I can forgive it here because June was really a huge element in all of Karin's life, so I totally get her getting a new dog, together with some support by Kopi who now also looks after her. There's also at least some implication that time passed between June passing and the family adopting a new dog, so that's good. I also like how they didn't get a pure-bred new puppy, like Kopi, the older family dog, but instead went to a rescue to adopt another former stray like June was, which was one of the reasons Ale originally didn't want to adopt her in the first place. So it's nice to see him come around and honor June in this way.

The characters are pretty basic, but I found the mostly very likable. Aya very clearly loves June and her daughter just so much. June is also really close to both of them and also loves Ale despite his stance on her. Honestly, Ale is kind of an asshole (mostly to June) throughout this movie, and while I don't excuse his actions, I totally get where he's coming from as taking in a stray who is afraid of children, especially when your wife is pregnant, can be pretty stressful.

I also like how he doesn't instantly try to get rid of June, but first tries to keep her outside because he knows his wife loves this dog very much. Yes, he's kind of mean about it, but you totally get his motivations as he really wants to keep his daughter safe, especially after him and Aya having lost a child before. And of course he comes around, and the fact that he was never an outright villain but just a guy making bad decisions makes him accepting June feel earned and not like a random plot point they pulled out of their asses.

Kopi is...honestly kind of just there. Despite being a part of the title and aiding in Karin's final rescue, his role is so minor and he has so little personality to him that him being in there really doesn't feel earned. I feel better titles would've been stuff like Aya and June, Karin and June or June and her Family. Kopi isn't a total non-character, it's not like you could easily write him out or anything. But his role is just so minor that him being in the title is kind of weird as the human family and June are the central focus points. Kopi is more like a sidekick to June and Ale than an actual main character.

Also this is super minor but I could've done without the scene where they have June carry a dirty diaper of the baby to the garbage bin and dump it in. Just...don't make a dog put that in their mouth please. I know it's supposed to be a cute scene showing June helping out but it's just gross.

So overall a pretty good movie with some heart-wrenching moments. It's not high-stakes at all outside of the climax, but I honestly liked the more calm and light-hearted tone the movie took on for the most part. It has some good character development. I don't think this is one of the big tearjerker dog movies such as The Dog of Flanders or Hachi: A Dog's Tale, but it's still good and deserves to be seen.