'The Dog Stars' Review: A Twangy, Achingly Human Apocalyptic Drama
Director Ridley Scott returns with his latest film The Dog Stars, an adaptation of the beloved novel by Peter Heller that thankfully leans far more human than apocalypse.
‘The Dog Stars’ takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and centers on a young man named Hig (Jacob Elordi), a survivor who has partnered up with another grizzled survivor named Bangley (Josh Brolin) and spend their days fortifying and protecting their land and occasionally venturing out to secure supplies and help those less fortunate. However, Hig’s monotonous lifestyle is flipped on its head when he ventures into unknown territory and crosses paths with a young woman named Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her father Pops (Guy Pearce) and they have to fight for their lives against other more feral survivors.
Apocalypse films are a dime a dozen these days, but author Peter Heller’s source material is ripe with a fresh, more human take on the genre. Thankfully, director Ridley Scott has decided to keep that spirit intact in order to craft an adaptation that focuses far more on humanity than those who have thrown theirs away. It also helps that he has assembled an impressive cast that isn’t wasted in the slightest here. Elordi, who has proven to be quite the versatile performer in recent years, particularly in Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ adaptation that rightfully earned him an Academy Award nomination, is fantastic here as Hig, imbuing him with palpable heart and warmth while simultaneously conveying the character’s growing loneliness and depression. Hig, especially compared to the majority of other survivors, comes across as an outlier, a good soul that is now trapped in a world determined to rip the light away from him. The contrast of the character and the dark, insidious world around him makes more a fascinating exploration and Elordi nails every beat of his journey.
The supporting cast is terrific as well, Brolin, Qualley, Pearce and Allison Janney all delivering stellar work, especially the latter who nearly walks away with the film in her limited screen time. Brolin can play a grizzled survivor in his sleep at this point, but he never coasts on autopilot, giving Bangley a dry, sardonic charm that makes him a wonderful foil for Elordi’s Hig, the scenes between the two characters a considerable highlight throughout. The trio of Pearce, Qualley and Elordi makes for a deeply magnetic one, the three of them sharing a natural chemistry and trust in one another as they sell the group’s inevitable transition from possible enemies to a makeshift family. Elordi and Qualley also sell the burgeoning romance between Cima and Hig with ease, managing to never make it feel rushed, awkward or stilted.
Scott’s direction is also unsurprisingly strong here, directing the film’s handful of action set pieces with ease as he reminds audiences while he has become such a revered genre filmmaker. He’s also aided by some phenomenal production design and beautiful cinematography from DP Erik Messerschmidt, a frequent collaborator of David Fincher, who manages to make this post-apocalyptic landscape feel as immersive as it is horrifying. This is a film that yearns to be seen on the biggest screen possible and particularly shines in the IMAX format. Though this isn’t an action heavy film by any stretch, when the thrills do emerge and take centerstage, they rarely disappoint, especially when paired with the film’s enveloping sound design.
The script from Mark L. Smith also delightfully keeps the focus on the characters and less so on the apocalyptic thrills. As a result, these characters feel three-dimensional, given the depth and exploration they absolutely need and deserve. This is an emotionally charged film, utilizing a slower pace in order to establish its world and put its central characters on the board. Some of the film’s finest moments are when these characters have an honest dialogue with one another, finally releasing the thoughts they’ve been keeping clenched inside. This is a film that firmly wears its heart on its sleeve while also effectively showcasing why these characters keep theirs so tightly protected, especially in a world that is largely devoid of it.
Surprisingly, the film is at its least interesting when it leans a bit heavier into its more genre friendly set pieces, delivering actions sequences that are certainly entertaining, but don’t offer much that is new or refreshing in the genre. It also doesn’t help that Scott continues to have an affinity for shooting an abundant amount of coverage, leaving very little room for any artistic flourishes that have helped shape some of his most iconic sequences. The film also takes a bit of tonal shift in its third act involving Janney’s character that may throw some audiences and leave them with a bit of vertigo, but the more pressing issue is the fact it’s not nearly as emotionally compelling or engaging as the film’s first two acts.
Over the past decade, Scott’s output as a director has been wildly scattershot to say the least, most of his offerings proving to be rather mediocre or incredibly disappointing. However, ‘The Dog Stars’ proves to be his finest film by a wide margin since ‘The Last Duel’, delivering plenty of thrills, but also a heavy dose of twangy heart and humanity that helps it stand out from the crowded post-apocalyptic pack. If this film makes anything increasingly clear, it’s that Scott is only as good as the material he’s given and thankfully the material here meets him at his level.