'Max' or a war dog's post-traumatic stress

After his Marine partner is killed in action in Afghanistan, military working dog Max is unable to remain in service.

Back in the US, the only human Max is willing to connect with is his former partner’s teenage brother, Justin.

Oscar-nominated actor Thomas Haden Church, who plays the boy’s father, says this film salutes the importance of working military dogs: “People are aware of war dog units and service dogs. They are aware of them peripherally… But how critical their actions are in battle, in firefighting, how they are trained to relentlessly pursue saving lives and hunting the enemy quite frankly.

“I just thought, ‘That’s a story that is so unique and needs to be said out loud.’ It starts off a wartime drama and becomes a family drama, but the wartime elements are critical to telling our story.”

Justin Wincott is played by rising teenage talent Josh Wiggins, who shot to fame in last year’s ‘Hellion’. Max was actually played by six different pooches and Wiggins says he