Thanks to HBO’s Euphoria, 99 times out of 100 when I see Jacob Elordi’s name attached to a project, I get excited. Thankfully, The Dog Stars is one of those 99 times and not like how disappointed I was in Wuthering Heights. Not only was I excited to see this movie, but it lived up to the hype. And, despite critics overall being on the fence, it is a movie that is worth seeing on the big screen. There is a certain feeling of humanity that this film gives you, showing us as an audience that we really need to take the time every day to be thankful that we lead the lives we currently have. Because things could get so much worse, besides this, there is a lot of heart in this film. Much of the purpose of this movie is to show that good people will always do the right thing, even if it takes time to gain their trust. One thing I could gush about for days was the world-building that only a director like Ridley Scott could make and feel lived-in.
The film begins in a post-apocalyptic world where a man named “Hig” (played by Jacob Elordi) flies in a small plane with his dog, Jasper. It is a simple supply run, like they have probably done a million times before. I personally enjoyed that this movie did not feel the need to show us its first day of the virus that broke out. No need for that. Just start the book in the middle, on chapter twelve, and we will go from there. We do see Hig get things that are non-essential, like Sprite. At one point in the first act, we see a man who attacks Hig and tells him there are very bad people about to come after him. Hig drops off the Sprite to a family who cares for many younger kids. I will admit, until the story comes to its completion, seeing this family felt like a completely different movie taking place. Tonally, the film does struggle at times in deciding what it wants to be. But this family is the American Dream. Clearly Ridley Scott wanted to show us in the audience that, “Hey, this is not a world that has been completely swallowed into darkness”. We need those bits of humanity where we get them to give us the motivation to keep watching this film. Ultimately, this film is about good people living in very, very bad circumstances.
Speaking of the American Dream, Josh Brolin’s character, Bangley, has his own idea of what this means. See, though Bangley and Hig live together the only company they ever have is Jasper, who is already Hig’s dog. They do not see much of anyone. And who could blame them? Bangley believes that the only thing a man needs after the apocalypse took place was power, food, water, and weapons. The way Bangley sees the world now is that you should shoot first, inquire second. Hig believes that this world suits a man like Bangley, who thrives on its toxic nature. Hig is not wrong, as we see later on when the movie hits an epic climax.
Jacob Elordi in Ridley Scott’s ‘The Dog Stars’ (2026)
After something major happens, Hig stops living by the same ideals as Bangley and decides that he wants to go off on his own and try to find a new home, where survivors have banded together. He asked Bangley to go with him, but Bangley tells him nothing out there is worth exploring – a thought that is in our minds for the rest of the movie. Is Bangley wrong to feel this way? Is he partially right and we just, for Hig’s sake, don’t want to admit that the world is too far gone?
Upon leaving, Hig crashes into a small area where he meets two survivors who are good people, like himself and Bangley. We quickly learn that they are not the kind of people to attack you for your land/or reasons of cannibalism. He shares with Margaret Qualley’s Cima that he once had a wife and a dog, which made him a lucky man. It’s touches of details like this, as well as things like the two sharing a cup of coffee where this movie really digs deep into its bag of tricks. The way we, as people, end up relating to characters in movies is ultimately something that goes hand in hand with how much we end up like a movie we see. So, seeing two people talk about how much they miss grocery stores while living in this post-apocalyptic world makes them relatable and gives the screen and its audience dialogue and story beats to connect on.
This film is not perfect. As I mentioned, near the beginning of my review, the bit with the family originally feels out of place. How can a world this dark still have such rays of sunshine? Thankfully, the story comes full circle by its end, and we are shown that there was no filler involved. It was not a movie that could have shed five minutes by cutting that family completely out.
The world-building in this film is top-notch. While it won’t win any Oscars this year, the team behind the set design of the movie did their job and then some. Not once did I question whether the scenes in the movie felt like they were staged up to look any certain way. It was just the way it was because of everything that happened in the story. It was authentic. And a great achievement.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
While Ridley Scott will not be remembered for this movie alone when people talk about his best work, this is some rock-solid filmmaking with a clear message for its audience about being grateful for one another and valuing our time on this earth. Go out and see this movie for yourselves. You may or may not end up loving it, but the discussion and discourse that stems from this movie is worth the price of admission.
