Bitch

Bitch is a 2017 American dark comedy film written and directed by Marianna Palka. Plot Jill Hart, a stay-at-home mom in the L.A. suburbs, is at breaking point from stress, and from the lengthy work absence of her philandering husband Bill. Alone, she toys with and fails to commit suicide by hanging herself with a dog leash. Her state worsens, in parallel with being troubled by a mysterious dog that visits their garden much of the time, watching the house. Jill suffers a mental breakdown, and vanishes, leaving Bill torn between work and care of their four children. Initially fearing she has left or been abducted or harmed, the children find her faeces smeared clothing and phone in the house after school, and later locate Jill in the basement where she has snapped and reverted to behaving like a dog. She snarls and barks at the family as they peer downstairs. Out of his depth and trying to maintain the appearance of normality, Bill seeks refuge in focusing on his work needs and minimising his engagement with his wife's condition. He is pressured by Jill's sister Beth to stop shirking and contact the family doctor, but focuses on his work stresses and on keeping the matter secret. He blames his wife for the change to their situation and for selfishly (as he sees it) placing extra work on him to support the family, and blames the doctor for suggesting she needs to be taken into psychiatric hospital care. He begins secretly drinking vodka from the bottle, flushes his wedding ring down the shower drain, neglects work and is fired, and his behaviour disconcerts and pushes away the children. Jill remains in the basement, her behaviour remains feral and aggressive in both bark and snarl. However, gradually Bill and Beth begin to open up to each other and he begins to work with her and support the children as a family, for the good of all. He buys dog toys for Jill, then gently suggests the children stop offering the toys to her, when their attempts to engage increase Jill's stress.