Post-apocalyptic stories on screen usually feature certain expected elements. You’ll see nature reasserting itself, competition over resources, and tough survivors with useful skills. (And maybe zombies.) Director Ridley Scott’s new drama The Dog Stars has some worthwhile visuals and performances, but the story doesn’t distinguish itself enough outside of those expected elements.
The Dog Stars is based on Peter Heller’s 2012 novel of the same name. Jacob Elordi plays Hig, a young man surviving after a virus has wiped out most of humanity, including his wife. His world now involves mostly a few reliable things. He has his dog, his plane, and his ex-Marine neighbor, Bangley (Josh Brolin). He helps Bangley defend their hangar. He also brings supplies to an isolated Mennonite community. That’s pretty much his existence, until a faint radio transmission comes through one day. After that comes loss and a lot of changes. A lot of danger, too, more than Hig is used to.
This movie can impress the viewer visually and in terms of some of the acting, but The Dog Stars can’t boast a great script. Some narrative choices needed more development. Other plot points don’t gel well within the wider scope of the story. As a post-apocalyptic tale, The Dog Stars doesn’t have enough of its own voice.
MORE: Refresh your memory about Ridley Scott’s last film by reading our review of Gladiator II!
“You’re as dead as the rest of them, you just don’t know it yet.”
The beginning of this film has a lot to admire. For the first act, or even the first two acts, some engaging work is done here across the board. Scott and cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt deliver wonderful aerial shots of gorgeous mountain scenery. Chris Seagers’ production design effectively feels like an abandoned version of our world. Hig and Bangley’s interaction comes across as a lived-in relationship with history behind it. Plus, the dog is great.
The flaws creep in as antagonistic forces show themselves. In this landscape, scavengers are Hig and Bangley’s biggest problem, and then a better-armed and more ruthless group of them called Reapers appears. That name is obviously intended to invoke death and desolation. However, the script needed to be clearer about them. The virus only killed people; it did not change them, and no one uses the word zombie. Yet, the screams and frenzied movements of the Reapers that attack the hangar suggest something medical is wrong with them. This inconsistency is irritating.
MORE: For more on The Dog Stars, read about what we had to say when the first trailer hit!
“That’s not the way people are supposed to be.”
That’s not the only example of a problem with the presentation of the scavengers. When Hig flies off to track that signal he picked up, his plane breaks down near the homestead of Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her father, Jack (Guy Pearce). Scavengers eventually attack here as well. While the earlier ones all had shaved heads and tattoos, this group has mostly Native American-coded styling and emits war whoops with tomahawks. Not racially sensitive, to say the least. Maybe the filmmakers didn’t intend that connotation at all, but it was noticeable to me.
Writers Mark L. Smith and Christopher Wilkinson could’ve made other improvements, too. Like Hig, Cima lost her spouse to the virus. They are two young and attractive people. It’s not surprising that something might happen between them. They are both still wearing their wedding bands when they meet, and though we expect their kiss that ends the film, their interaction doesn’t feel developed enough. We like them. But we don’t yearn for them to take those rings off for each other. It’s a bit of a missed opportunity. Emphasizing the ship more than the scavengers might have helped the story.
MORE: If you want more Ridley Scott after seeing The Dog Stars, read our review of his strong historical epic, The Last Duel!
“You gotta have something to haunt you, right?”
As for Elordi and Qualley’s performances, their talent is evident. However, the greater experience of Brolin and Pearce is also clear. This is a case of the film defining itself by what it doesn’t show. Bangley and Jack both have a cantankerous, grizzled machismo. You just know they’d clash, and it would probably be a fun moment, yet the film doesn’t give us that. Maybe the writers were going for subtle. Maybe they thought that would be too much conflict between the heroes. But just like the romance, I think this is a case of being too subtle.
Scott’s direction is reliably superb, on the other hand. I love the way he keeps his camera dynamic and coaxes out the scope of the imagery even outside of the big action sequences. He makes even the small moments feel bigger. The Last Duel is still his best movie of this decade, but I do appreciate how eagerly he hops into any genre. He should’ve had a better script to work with here. Though Scott and his cast do their best, the imperfections of The Dog Stars still shine through.
3 stars out of 5
The Dog Stars is playing in theaters now.
