‘The Dog Stars’ Review: A Bleak Post-Pandemic Tale That Struggles to Soar

Ridley Scott returns to familiar genre territory with ‘The Dog Stars,’ presenting a grim vision of a world ravaged by an unrelenting flu pandemic. Adapted from Peter Heller’s novel by screenwriter Mark L. Smith, the film follows Hig, portrayed by Jacob Elordi, a grieving pilot who transports supplies to a remote commune while sharing a fortified airport hangar with the trigger-happy survivalist Bangley, played by Josh Brolin.

The premise arrives at a thought-provoking cultural moment, hitting theaters years after a real pandemic that transformed how audiences might perceive such narratives. There’s an evident ambition to explore themes of isolation, trust, and the transformation of humanity when the foundations of civilization crumble. Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Allison Janney complete a cast that suggests this was intended to be a prestigious survival drama rather than merely a genre piece.

However, what unfolds is a film caught between two conflicting directions, never fully committing to either. For extended periods, ‘The Dog Stars’ aims to be a subtle character study focused on grief and companionship, allowing Elordi’s wounded stillness and his bond with his dog Jasper to carry entire scenes without dialogue. These moments possess a genuine hush, with Elordi portraying Hig with a delicate, aching gentleness that provides the film with its only consistent emotional heartbeat.

Then the film recalls its identity as a Ridley Scott production, shifting into action sequences that feel tacked on rather than organic. Brolin delivers a formidable performance as Bangley, embodying coiled paranoia and grim competence, yet the character primarily serves to convey a worldview that the film seems both half-convinced by and half-ashamed of. The screenplay repeatedly raises questions about who deserves protection and who poses a threat, but it never arrives at a definitive answer, leading to a sense of avoidance rather than ambiguity.

A significant issue lies in the film’s lack of curiosity about its own apocalyptic setting. We learn that a flu pandemic decimated much of the population years ago, but aside from a few visual cues like abandoned cars and empty hospitals, the film fails to delve into how this world functions or what was truly lost. A narrative built on the notion of reconstructing fragments of a shattered civilization requires those fragments to feel specific, yet here they largely resemble set dressing borrowed from numerous other end-of-the-world tales.

Visually, Scott’s mastery of atmosphere is undeniable, with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt capturing the Colorado landscapes in a cold, expansive beauty that complements the story’s themes of loneliness. Harry Gregson-Williams’ score also plays a significant role, subtly enhancing moments that the script itself does not fully justify. It is a visually striking film, even when it proves to be frustrating, and the tension between craftsmanship and content permeates nearly every scene.

Ultimately, ‘The Dog Stars’ loses its way in the latter half, when a mysterious radio transmission prompts Hig to venture into the broader world, causing the film to pivot sharply into spectacle. Some sequences are staged with genuine intensity, but they clash so dramatically with the meditative tone established earlier that the film begins to feel like two disparate scripts stitched together. By the time it reaches for a hopeful, almost mythic conclusion, that hope feels unearned rather than cathartic, as the film has invested little time in making its world or ideas feel thoroughly developed.

I left ‘The Dog Stars’ appreciating Elordi’s performance and Scott’s visual prowess much more than the surrounding narrative, which is a disappointing conclusion for a filmmaker of his caliber. It is a film rich in atmosphere and featuring a few genuinely moving quiet moments, yet it is undermined by a script that confuses withholding information for depth and never resolves the tonal dissonance between intimate drama and action showcase. Weighing ambition against execution, I would rate it 6 out of 10, a film worth watching for its craftsmanship and lead performance but one that fails to resonate in the way it aspires to.

Have you seen ‘The Dog Stars’ yet, and do you share my perspective? Let me know in the comments.