The world of The Dog Stars is harsh, lonely, and always one bad decision away from collapse. Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic western follows Jacob Elordi’s Hig as he scrapes through a broken landscape, clinging to hope, grief, and the thin promise that something better still exists beyond the horizon.
Hig lives by a steady, exhausting routine. He flies a small yellow plane into Denver for supplies, checks in on an old house that keeps dragging him back into memories of his wife, and helps a rural Mennonite community when he can. When danger comes calling, he teams up with Bangley to handle strangers who might be carrying a virus, then burns the bodies afterward as a grim precaution.
That setup has the right ingredients for tension, but the film often settles into a repetitive rhythm. Hig becomes convinced that life might still be waiting in Grand Junction, while Bangley treats the idea like a death wish, warning that leaving Eric would be a fatal mistake. Hig’s stubborn belief in something more is the engine that pushes him out into the unknown.
On that journey, he crosses paths with a handful of memorable figures, including the blunt rancher Jack and his daughter Cima, played by Guy Pearce and Margaret Qualley, along with the unpredictable Darlene, played by Allison Janney. The movie also throws in the “Reapers,” a ragged band of violent scavengers who seem built to wreck anything in their path.
The cast keeps things moving even when the story drifts. Elordi works hard to carry Hig’s worn-down determination, and he brings enough presence to suggest a real leading man in the making. Brolin and Pearce get mileage out of their rough edges, while Janney brings a spark that cuts through the film’s heavier stretches.
Even so, the movie never really grabs hold. Outside of a few bursts of gunfire, The Dog Stars often feels strangely flat, like it is circling its own mood instead of building momentum. Hig should be an easy character to root for, but he comes off as a fairly standard dystopian survivor, which leaves Elordi with less dramatic fuel than he probably needs.
The tone is part western, part road movie, part melancholy survival story, but the mix never quite clicks into something electric. Harry Gregson-Williams’ guitar-heavy score leans hard into the dusty, reflective atmosphere, and the mountain landscapes are easy on the eyes, but visual beauty can only do so much when the emotional pulse stays muted.
What should feel tense and urgent too often drifts into sleepier territory. The movie has a few strong ingredients, but they never fully fuse into a gripping whole. Scott has made plenty of memorable films, yet this one feels like it keeps its best ideas at a distance, just out of reach.
The Verdict
The Dog Stars lands as another underwhelming stop in Ridley Scott’s uneven run, a film that may stick around in the moment but fades fast once the credits roll. It has capable performances, striking scenery, and a world that should be rich with dread, yet the final result never shakes free of its sluggish pulse.
★★ — SKIP IT
The Dog Stars is rated R for strong violence and language. Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes. In theaters now.
