At 88 years old, Ridley Scott is showing no signs of slowing down. Considering his immense contributions to cinema, such as Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982), excitement for his three confirmed projects in pre-production is only natural, though somewhat tempered by the reception to his more recent work.
With the exception of Gladiator II (2024), which naturally fared better as a much-anticipated sequel, his last clear-cut box office hit came in 2015 with The Martian. His five projects released since then have struggled to turn a profit and critical responses have ranged from apathy to praise tempered by comparison to Scott’s early career highs.
The film follows Hig (Jacob Elordi), an ex-mechanic who lost his wife to the deadly flu pandemic. He protects a small fortified area of land with trigger-happy Bangley (Josh Brolin). However, his sights are set further away, towards Grand Junction, where he suspects one of the last proper human settlements may be found. Throughout his journey, he comes across ruthless enemies, such as the Reapers: a crazed collection of uncivilised survivors intent on destruction. Luckily, he also finds allies on his way, such as Pops (Guy Pearce) and Cima (Margaret Qualley), who soon becomes Hig’s new love interest.
The story is adapted from a 2012 novel of the same name by Peter Heller, which earned rave reviews and garnered great commercial success. The film amplifies Bangley’s role with the attack on the settlement being shown directly rather than told by Hig. This proves to be a good decision as Brolin gives one of the more natural performances in the film. The screenplay also attempts to streamline certain plot points by making Pops and Cima’s decision to join Hig a split-second necessity during an attack. However, I feel that the book’s gradually improving relations between Hig and Cima would have provided a more believable basis for their relationship.
The elephant in the room is Elordi, who is clearly miscast. He comes across as overly nonchalant and proves to not be a very convincing action star, despite his more impressive and nuanced performance in Frankenstein (2025). On the other hand, Pearce, Brolin and Alison Janney stand out for being more adeptly able to compensate for a lacklustre script. Qualley doesn’t particularly stand out either way, often overshadowed by Pops’ gruff wit.
The music in the film comes off as twee and ill-fitting for the issues at play, opening with Hozier’s ‘Like Real People Do’, which would be more at home in a quiet countryside rom-com. Particularly heinous is the product placement in the film with a not-insignificant part of the runtime spent on characters drinking Coca-Cola and a minor plot point being dedicated to Hig venturing into abandoned Denver to pick up a pack of Sprite for a local Mennonite homestead.
Fortunately, the film has some saving graces. Scott has retained his eye for grand visuals and some of the aerial photography is genuinely stunning. I’ve long thought that he has a knack for making the earth look otherworldly, perhaps inspired by on-location filming for his work set on alien planets, such as Prometheus (2012), which leaves it up to the audience's interpretation whether the opening scene, filmed in Iceland, is set on Earth or not. The Dog Stars is doubtlessly set on Earth but Scott’s filming style lends it a level of desolation and unfamiliarity which the narrative does not itself convey.
Another highlight is the relatively short Grand Junction section, which would not feel out of place in Blade Runner with its retro-futuristic style constituting the most visually interesting design put to screen within the film. Janney is a scene-stealer here, though she and the location are not given enough screen time at all and, within the context of the wider narrative, come across as overly jarring.
Alfie Coan
Overall, The Dog Stars shows signs of a film which could have been so much better but unfortunately ranks very low in Scott’s filmography. I made sure to wear my hearing aids to the screening, initially wanting to catch every word for the purposes of this review. Needless to say, they went back in my bag around the halfway mark. Anyone excited for Scott’s directorial return to the Alien franchise may pause for thought here.
Featured image: IMDb / The Dog Stars
Do you think Ridley Scott's got it in him to make another great film?
