Review: ‘The Dog Stars’ is a visually flat post-apocalyptic thriller

Theolin Tembo

29 AUG 2026, 11:00

4 min read

While the story of “The Dog Stars” keeps you engaged and is very solid overall, it is a pity that the rest of the film leaves you wanting more.

There is a lot that works in favour of “The Dog Stars”, especially when you see the names attached on paper. However, because of the calibre of the names attached, the film leaves you feeling underwhelmed.

Directed by Ridley Scott, the thriller is set in a post-apocalyptic world where survival is instinct, but humanity is a choice.

Based on Peter Heller’s captivating bestseller, “The Dog Stars” tells the story of Hig (Jacob Elordi), a young pilot who, together with a military survivalist, Bangley (Josh Brolin), have carved out an efficient but isolated homestead in a brutal post-apocalyptic world.

But when Hig receives a mysterious radio transmission, he ventures into the unknown in search of the hope and humanity he still believes exists.

Alongside Elordi and Brolin, the film also stars Margaret Qualley, Allison Janney, Benedict Wong, and Guy Pearce.

The biggest offence of “The Dog Stars” is that the film is visually bland and uninteresting. There is an element of generic visuals and by-the-numbers production design which ultimately underserves what is otherwise a solid and cohesive movie.

Personally, a coherent story with solid elements that make sense for the fictional world the characters exist in, can go a really long way towards making a film more enjoyable. The story of the movie is grounded in who the characters are, and the challenges that they face.

There is little in the world of “The Dog Stars” that does not feel authentic to what the characters would do. Part of it works because it also feels a little tied into the eerie lockdowns many experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Elordi does an okay job with his character, but he also comes off a little bland at times as he internalises too much of his performance.

While his character is meant to be the stoic-yet-angst-filled leading man, in a movie dealing with thriller elements, he needed to have a heightened external display of emotion to allow the viewers something to connect with.

Brolin, who plays a convincing father figure, still feels a little generic in his portrayal with little done to explain why his character is the way he is, or how he ended up in the situation alongside Elordi’s character.

That being said, the main issues of the movie comes down to director Ridley Scott, whose direction reduces what could have been an intriguing and captivating film in the hands of a younger director with a visual flair, but he shoots everything in the most predictable way possible.

The camerawork feels stagnant and there are no dynamic shots which could have elevated sequences. While Scott can still deliver interesting movies, he also feels like he was not even remotely interested in telling this story.

There is an action sequence in the middle of the film with Brolin’s character which felt so dull and lacked any sense of tension or anxiety for the fate of his character. If I do not care whether your character lives or dies in what is meant to be a big battle moment, then we have a problem.

A lot of the heart and tender moments, especially the scenes between Elordi and Brolin and later Elordi and Qualley, would have been handled better in the hands of a different director. There are many women directors who, if given the opportunity, could have delivered a very remarkable film.

The supporting performances feel underused, with the film leaving an impression that they showed up for a paycheque. While that is not always a bad thing, in this instance, it feels hard to dismiss.

The only one who really stood out was Allison Janney’s eccentric character, but even then, it was marginally.

Aside from Benedict Wong’s character, and very few camera shots of characters of colour, the film has very non-existent black representation in speaking roles. That is such poor oversight of the movie.

There will be those who are absolutely enamoured with the bond between Elordi and his character’s dog, but that relationship was handled so basically, that it was nowhere near as emotional as what was intended.

Overall “The Dog Stars” is an inoffensive, yet forgettable movie, that should have hit streaming where it may have become a bigger hit or made more of an impact.