Shooting Dogs

The night of 6 April 1994 brings distant explosions and gunfire, signaling the violence to come. Captain Delon orders the perimeter fortified and the school becomes a makeshift fortress. Refugees flood in, and Joe grows protective while his bond with Marie deepens in the looming chaos.

Joe goes to Marie’s house to fetch her, only to find it empty except for a dog. The front is blocked by a Hutu mob, while Marie slips in through the rear as refugees organize under Roland. A growing split forms as foreign refugees receive better quarters, frustrating Father Christopher.

With danger mounting, Joe urges Captain Delon to bring in Rachel, a BBC journalist, hoping television coverage will spur outside relief. Delon’s stance hardens after reports of massacres against Belgian troops, dampening his initial cooperation. Joe remains determined to shine a light on the refugees’ plight.

Joe enlists his Hutu friend François to escort him to find Rachel and her cameraman. They persuade the journalists to come to the school by insinuating that Europeans are inside. On the return trip, they are stopped at a roadblock and dragged from the vehicle at gunpoint.

At the roadblock, Rachel negotiates to pass, but violence erupts as a Tutsi man is hacked to death and François appears among the mob with a bloody blade. François arranges for the journalists to pass, but the moment fractures Joe’s view of neutral reporting and strains his friendship with François. The brutality makes the conflict personal for him.

During a tense interview, Rachel questions why the troops won’t intervene and challenges the UN mandate. Delon defends the need for political backing and intervention without relief, signaling the political constraints at play. The exchange sharpens the moral dilemma facing everyone inside the compound.

Subtly rising above the chaos, Father Christopher helps deliver Edda’s baby, offering a small beacon of hope. He then seeks medicine for the infant from a nearby convent, bribing guards and lying that the child is Hutu to secure aid. The infant becomes a fragile moment of solace amid the siege.

Returning with medicine, Christopher discovers the convent attacked and the hurdlers lent for the roadblocks repurposed as barricades. The scene underscores the brutality and the moral compromises forced on those inside. The sense of sanctuary collapses as violence encroaches from every side.

French troops arrive but say they’re there for French refugees only. Delon’s temper flares, yet he agrees to evacuate all Europeans. Rachel departs with the French convoy, and Joe is urged to leave as well, deepening the sense of a fragile lifeline slipping away.

A last-ditch rear escape by refugees, including Edda, is ambushed by the mob; most are killed, and Edda and her baby fall victim to the crush of violence. Delon orders a withdrawal as the Belgians prepare to depart, while Roland pleads for a decisive act that never comes. Joe leaves with Delon, leaving Marie behind and whispering a final, sorrowful apology.

With danger intensifying, Christopher stays behind but smuggles a small group of children out in the back of the school truck, including Marie, intending to return for more. As he departs, the mob attacks the remaining refugees with renewed fury. The moral calculus of saving lives at great personal risk becomes painfully clear.

In the epilogue, Marie finds Joe again and he is now a teacher at Christopher’s former school; they briefly reflect on their shared experiences. The film closes with factual notes about the genocide in Rwanda and personal reflections from crew members who lived through the days, grounding the tragedy in real history.