Baxter

Baxter is removed from the kennels and handed to an elderly woman. He immediately treats her bland routine with contempt, seeking stimulation beyond her world. This marks the start of his calculated adjustment to a new home.

From the window, Baxter watches the young couple's nightly lovemaking and becomes obsessed with their vitality. He interprets their closeness as a sign of a livelier life he craves. This fixation pulls him away from the old woman's world and into a competing dynamic.

He tries to assert control by causing the old woman to stumble, hoping to show her who is in charge. Instead, the plan backfires as her health deteriorates and he becomes more entangled in her decline. The attempt reveals his capacity for manipulation and marks a turning point.

The old woman's condition worsens until Baxter kills her. The murder is framed as a bid to be free and adopted by the young couple across the street. This act immediately shifts him into a new household and escalates his appetite for power.

Baxter enjoys his life with the young couple, moving between the sensual woman and earthy man. He brings them dead animals as gifts, testing their boundaries and asserting his dominance. The idyll seems to suit him until signs of neglect begin to surface.

The couple has a baby, and Baxter becomes convinced the child is weak and a threat. He hatches plans to harm the infant, but those plans backfire as the baby is unharmed and the couple remains oblivious. Eventually the couple give Baxter to a neighborhood boy.

Under the boy's management, Baxter finds a new, darker environment. The boy, a budding sociopath and Hitler fanatic, seeks power through Baxter's obedience. He even notices a schoolgirl who reminds him of Eva Braun.

Baxter and the girl's spaniel form an unusual bond that results in pregnancy. This incident adds a layer of perverse complexity to the power dynamic between Baxter and the boy. The event underscores Baxter's confusion about his own sexuality.

To assert his ruthlessness, Baxter kills a stray dog, demonstrating the extent of his loyalty to the boy's brutal vision. The act deepens the dangerous bond between master and pet.

The boy orders Baxter to kill a classmate, but Baxter refuses to carry out the act, realizing the boy does not truly understand him. This rejection foreshadows an eventual betrayal and power struggle.

The spaniel gives birth to puppies, and the boy's imitation of Hitler leads him to kill them. Baxter decides that the boy must die as retribution for this cruelty. The tension between them reaches a boiling point.

The boy attacks Baxter, and a struggle ensues. Baxter gains the upper hand but cannot disobey when the boy commands him to heel, allowing the boy to kill him. This marks the end of Baxter's violent arc.

Later the boy breaks into the old lady's abandoned house and observes the young couple from afar. He delivers a monologue echoing Baxter's, planning to kill his parents and be adopted by the couple. The ending signals a chilling replication of Baxter's desire for belonging.