Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox play exes who come together for the sake of their depressed dog in the upcoming holiday movie, Merv.
“OK, Merv, I have something to tell you,” Deschanel’s character Anna says to her pup in the trailer, which dropped on Tuesday, November 11. “The thing is me and Russ broke up.”
Merv lets out a tiny growl at Anna’s statement, clearly upset over the news, but his owner reassures him that he’ll “be OK.”
The trailer fast forwards to Russ (Cox) as he and Anna coparent Merv. After Russ drops off Merv at Anna’s home, Anna notices that her four legged friend is acting off as he lays down dejectedly. As time goes on, Russ also notices a change in Merv’s behavior.
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“[You] don’t wanna play fetch?” Russ asks Merv. “[You] don’t want cuddles?”
As Merv’s strange behavior continues, Anna and Russ take their dog to the vet in search of an answer to what’s wrong.
“Dogs are very sensitive to anything that throws their routine,” the veterinarian explains. “Like a breakup.”
Russ responds, “You think Merv is depressed because we broke up?”
To help Merv find his groove again, Russ decides to leave during the cold months in the city and go on a “boys trip” down to a sunny Florida dog beach ahead of the holidays.
“He needs to find his lust for life again. We’re going on a boys trip,” Russ tells Anna.
Anna isn’t thrilled about the idea at first, arguing that Merv “hates beaches.” Russ tells her that she’s the one who is not particularly fond of the sand.
After Russ and Merv travel down to Florida, Anna ends up crashing the trip. Merv smells her scent and excitedly runs off to find her, much to Russ’ chagrin.
“Oh no. What are you doing here?” Russ asks Anna, who’s incognito with sunglasses and a floppy hat. “You’ve turned up dressed like some weird lady spy.”
Anna explains, “We both know he’s the happiest when we’re all hanging out together.”
Russ disagrees, but Anna says it’s just for a “week” and it can’t be that “hard” for them to coexist while enjoying the trip together.
As the exes are on vacation, they spend more time together and their spark reignites. But both Anna and Russ downplay their feelings, adamant that their connection is platonic.
“We’re just two people who share a dog,” Anna says while out on a date with another man, who considers the situation to be a “red flag.”
Russ explains to a woman he met at a bar that the getaway with his ex-girlfriend was a “cheer-up trip” for Merv — and nothing more.
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However, when Anna confesses to a gal pal that she might still have feelings for Russ, the friend encourages Anna to act on them.
“Anna, you’re perfect together,” the pal says.
In addition to Deschanel and Cox, Merv stars Chris Redd, Patricia Heaton, David Hunt, Ellyn Jameson, Wynn Everett, Jasmine Mathews, Darren DesLonde and Joey Slotnick. The film was written by Linsey Stewart and Dane Clark and directed by Jessica Swale.
Merv premieres on Amazon Prime on December 10.
