The title is both noun and verb, referring to the dogs that wander the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, and to the life-path of the humans with whom the canines bond. Hong Kong-born filmmaker Elizabeth Lo spent six months following one stray female dog named Zeytin day after day, seeing the world from the dog’s point of view. (The camera generally stays at about dog-eye level.) There are snippets of human conversation — a neglected wife, a controlling boyfriend, political tidbits — but most of the film’s soundtrack alternates between street sounds and a haunting, minimalist, strings-based original score by Ali Helnwein.

Eventually a thread of plot develops, concerning the fate of a trio of homeless teenage Syrian refugees. They sleep in abandoned buildings, sniff glue, and beg for change. At one point, they decide they want a puppy and steal one from a construction crew whose dog has just birthed a litter. Zeytin thus gains a co-star.

However interesting you think it would be to follow a stray dog around the grimier parts of a big, cold city is exactly how interesting you will find the film. It’s well shot and smartly edited, and it holds to verité rules of identifying no one and providing no time frame, no narration, and no interviews. It’s intended more as an immersive experience than as an educational one.

Lo tosses in lots of quotes from ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes, a dog lover who lived on the streets of Athens, and she clearly wants Stray to speak to the issues of immigration and homelessness. Is it telling that the only people seen to assist Zeytin are the homeless boys and a garbage worker? As a documentary, however, the film is limited by its subjects, which are unlikely to provide much insight or closure.

There are amusing moments, such as when two dogs try to copulate during a women’s rights march, and disgusting moments — they’re dogs; you can imagine. But if there’s any overriding emotion, it’s probably increasing sadness at the plight of both the pups and the boys, equally neglected and invisible. They all exist in a kind of hopeless, timeless present. The life of the city flows around them, but they’ve all strayed too far to expect the future to be anything but more of the same.

Grade: B-minus. Not rated but PG equivalent. Now available to rent via Grail Moviehouse’s Virtual Sofa Cinema streaming service.

(Photo: Magnolia Pictures)