Like Dogs

Lisa is abducted off the street by two men in a white van and taken to a secluded facility. She is strapped to a gurney and drugged before being moved to a concrete cell. The setup establishes the controlled, clinical environment of her captivity.

She wakes in a small concrete space with a dog bed, water bottle, and a neck chain. She is fed chipped beef from a dog bowl and quickly senses the harsh, procedural routine of her confinement. This setup establishes the dogmatic regime controlling the captives.

Lisa misbehaves by dumping food and refusing to eat, and she even smacks the bowl against the wall. She is subject to interventions like a bath and a new remote-controlled choke collar that tightens to restrain her. The scene introduces the cruel control methods used on inmates.

A new prisoner named Adam is introduced at the end of the kennel line. He has been there for some time and is also restrained by a choke collar. The two begin to learn about each other and share a tense camaraderie.

Adam and Lisa slowly get to know each other as the staff monitors behavior. When Adam misbehaves, both are shocked with electric prods and separated until he behaves. The notes suggest they are being trained to form a dynamic, with Lisa depicted as the 'alpha'.

Adam finally engineers a plan to escape by grabbing a pole and hitting a guard, stealing keys to unlock their cages. He frees himself and Lisa, but Lisa strikes him on the head with her bowl, knocking him out, and she yells 'Mayday' to signal trouble. The act reveals both the desperation and the chaotic moral lines of their captivity.

It is revealed that the entire setup is an experiment designed by Lisa in collaboration with George and Erika through a university grant. What Adam thought was an escape was actually a hallucination induced by the treatment. Lisa contends she should be reinserted to complete the study.

Lisa and Adam attempt to escape by climbing a fence while in the yard, but their collars prevent them from leaving. Adam signals his feelings for Lisa as they choke, and she interprets it as love.

George brings them inside and straps each to a table in separate rooms in the East Wing, injecting hallucinogens to induce a panic. He disables cameras to avoid detection as the experiment spirals.

Erika discovers George's actions and contacts Fisher, a higher-up who approves the project. Fisher gives Lisa a dose of adrenaline to wake her, but Lisa ends up strangling Fisher and hiding her body in the freezer.

Erika investigates further and learns the truth before being overpowered by George, who injects her and knocks her out. The power dynamic shifts as the other captives are subdued.

George shows Lisa a room full of former boyfriends captured in kennels, implying those past interactions were real. He claims Lisa’s earlier hallucinations were grounded in reality and drugs. He then moves them to a room with Erika and Adam to force a choice of who to choke.

George pressures Lisa to choose who to choke, and she initially selects Erika. Adam’s choke collar activates, and George ultimately decides that Adam will be strangled. The moment exposes the brutal control at the core of the experiment.

Lisa tricks George, bites his lip, and steals the keys to free herself and Erika. They overpower George, tie him to a gurney, and set off his choke collar to kill him.

Lisa escapes the facility by disguising herself as Erika, walking out in Erika's glasses and clothes as the building burns behind her. The end shows Erika battered, crawling out of the burning doorway, hinting at the future shaped by Lisa's new identity.