Like John Carpenter's / Dan O'Bannon's "Dark Star" this is a student movie. It can be viewed on YouTube in full length. It was not blown up to feature film length like "Dark Star", instead it sticks with the game show length of 45 minutes, which is good. Some (if not all) music videos of director Andreas Dorau were mixed into the show. The music clips are good and so is the music, but they do not really take the game show anywhere. However, the overall game show / music show mix is well balanced, fun to watch and enlightening at times.
The game show is set in the future where pets can talk. The game concept is a competition between pets and their respective owners, thus the title "beat your pet". Examples for such games include a dog trying to guess which partner his owner would prefer and then the owner trying the same, or a bear competing with a boy in a bicycle race. In the most elevated moment of the movie a dog hypnotizes a man, one of the very few great scenes in German film history.
The show draws it's charm from many sources. The acting is notable, Friedrich Graumann was perfectly casted as game show host Tony. But there are many smaller roles which are executed just as great. Take for example Peter-Paul Gardosch, a motorcycle guy that could easily rival with any Son of Anarchy. He competes in chipping toss with a goose.
Humans in this movie usually only win the competition because they play unfair. The coin flipping goose is being intimidated, the bear riding the bike is being sabotaged in many cruel ways. Occasionally the cheaters are being convicted - but for the wrong cause. In the end the ridiculous scenery with misbehaving people, talking pets and cunning children paints a vivid picture of morale decay. Dorau's work is much more than a game show persiflage and ranks high above the typical output of the "Hochschule für Film and Fernsehen" in Munich, which released some embarrassing supporting movies into the cinemas in the 90ies.
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