The Dog Stars Review: Ridley Scott’s Post-Apocalyptic Drama Is a Mixed Bag

Jacob Elordi and Ridley Scott team up for The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic survival film based on Peter Heller’s 2012 novel, which arrives in United States cinemas on March 27, 2026, according to reporting from ComingSoon.net and The Playlist. The movie follows Hig, a civilian pilot played by Elordi, living in an abandoned Colorado airfield nine years after an influenza epidemic wipes out most of the human population.

According to ComingSoon.net, the film is caught between a slow, contemplative story about grief and a conventional action thriller featuring guns and shootouts. The narrative opens with a setup resembling I Am Legend, showing Hig living in isolation with his dog and a former Marine named Bangley, played by Josh Brolin. Bangley protects their compound using a sniper rifle, having fully accepted the brutal reality of the wasteland, while Hig struggles to believe life holds nothing more.

Cast Performances and Production Details

Josh Brolin delivers the standout performance of the film, bringing a natural toughness to Bangley that avoids generic tropes, according to ComingSoon.net. Elordi plays against type as a vulnerable, sympathetic widower grieving his pregnant wife who died during the outbreak. The cast also features Margaret Qualley as Cima, Guy Pearce as her suspicious father Pops, and Allison Janney, whose late-film appearance introduces a jarring tonal shift.

According to The Irish Times, the film is shot by Erik Messerschmidt in rich natural shades that conjure up a stone-age America. While the quieter stretches feature characters bonding over whiskey and camping under the stars, the middle section draws criticism for wearisome attacks by cultists and a vulgar dystopian sequence near the end.

Ridley Scott on Set and Critical Reception

During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast reported by The Playlist, Jacob Elordi described Ridley Scott’s relentless work ethic and unique directing style on set. Elordi recalled an instance where Scott gave him immediate, blunt approval after a scene, telling him, “Fuck me, man, you’re all right,” according to The Playlist. Elordi noted that Scott actively cuts the film on 20 monitors from his trailer while shooting.

ComingSoon.net awarded the film a 5/10 score, defining it as mediocre because its positives and negatives ultimately negate each other. The review notes that while Scott expertly stages an action sequence about an hour and 15 minutes into the runtime, the movie suffers from pacing issues, thin character relationships, and emotional stakes that fail to land convincingly.