The Dog Stars is the new Ridley Scott movie based on the 2018 novel of the same name by author Peter Heller, which was adapted by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, Twisters). The film finds Hig (Jacob Elordi), a grieving, young widower stranded in his life in Erie, Colorado. After a flu pandemic almost eradicated the entire population, Hig has to live carefully, avoiding strangers and making supply runs to Denver to ensure he has enough to survive. He lives at an airport with his best friend Jasper (a dog named Rak Jasper, who shared the role with two other dogs) and Bangley, a fatherly figure who is a former military man.
The basis of the film’s conflict comes from Bangley and Hig’s different philosophies on life in the apocalypse. After a couple of violent incidents, Hig decides that he can no longer just stay at that Erie airport with Bangley, who insists that their life is the American dream, even if it’s a bit twisted. Thus, Hig sets off on a journey and runs into other people whose philosophies, or lack thereof, also clash with his own, causing both violent and political conflict. The film sees these different responses to loss and tragedy as the thing to explore. The loss that Hig experienced is also experienced by the world around him. With so much loss, what is there left to fight for? Hig has to go on this adventure to discover what may still be worth fighting for.
Jacob Elordi as Hig in 20th Century Studios’ THE DOG STARS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Jacob Elordi holds the movie down, giving a solid performance, but like a lot of Ridley Scott and Mark L. Smith characters, Hig is very one-note and doesn’t really show off Elordi’s range as an actor. For a two-hour movie, the character feels like he should have a little more to him, but this is more about what he does than what he says. As a person who convincingly survives the apocalypse and dangerous people while winning others over through hard work, Elordi fits that mould very well.
Every other actor in the ensemble is good and likeable. I think Josh Brolin, while also playing a fairly one-note character, is a very fitting actor for this role and fully embodies it. The same goes for Guy Pearce. Allison Janney has a very tough role in this film, playing a character who has been living in a completely different world from every other character we have met beforehand. I think she handles it pretty well and helps make that part of the film feel distinct. She also helps the movie avoid repeating itself as it enters its later stages. The tonal shift might be a challenge for some, but I found it engrossing overall.
Josh Brolin as Bangley in 20th Century Studios’ THE DOG STARS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
This is a slow movie more about grief than anything else, what to do with it, and how to move on with life. The film is a very polished narrative experience. Everything goes down very cleanly for an apocalypse movie. There are never many filmmaking or editing choices or mise-en-scène details that communicate the chaos, hardship, or grit that most apocalypse movies use to entertain and captivate their audiences. It’s made in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you saw something new, but there is a nostalgic satisfaction that washes over you.
The way the film captures nature is really enjoyable to look at, especially in wide shots where we follow Hig in his plane over the Colorado Rockies. There is also a nod to apocalyptic movies and stories of the past through interesting Western-style standoff scenarios that are resolved in compelling ways. While the characters usually don’t talk long enough to fully exchange viewpoints, we get an idea of how each group Hig encounters clashes with his own perspective. These standoffs make the film feel more like a Western, where the fights are clean because there are no bystanders. Everyone’s life is on the line in these scenarios, and what they do will affect a significant percentage of the people who are still living.
Margaret Qualley as Cima in 20th Century Studios’ THE DOG STARS. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
A major action scene around the middle of the film, while entertaining, has some logical problems that broke my suspension of disbelief. The action itself is well done and quite entertaining, often shot cleanly or with inspired wides and longer takes. However, at one key moment, it distracts from the momentum of what the film is doing as an entertainment product.
The music communicates tone very well and features some interesting, more modern-sounding compositions. It foreshadows the danger of different places during grand establishing shots and makes the beautiful, peaceful landscapes feel even more awe-inspiring. It is not a score that particularly breaks new ground. It also isn’t such an amazing version of a classic score that I would put it among the best scores of the year, but it fits well with the movie and never distracts from the experience of the story. It only adds to it, which is what any good film score should do.
Jacob Elordi as Hig in 20th Century Studios’ THE DOG STARS. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
The more memorable musical moment comes from the soundtrack, where the film sets the tone well with Hozier’s Like Real People Do. It is used nicely at both the beginning and end of the film. It’s a beautiful song that fits the setting and atmosphere of the scenes in which it is used really well. It becomes part of the film’s nice bookends. However, the ending itself returns to the movie’s mostly slow pace, which makes the conclusion feel somewhat uninspiring overall.
The Dog Stars is in theatres on Friday, August 28, 2026.
