Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Allison Janney, Benedict Wong, Ewan Bremner, Sam Spruell, Guy Pearce
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 118 mins

The Dog Stars is the new Ridley Scott film, an adaptation of a post-apocalyptic 2012 novel by Peter Heller. Set in 2035, mankind has been almost eradicated by a devastating pandemic. Jacob Elordi plays Hig, a civilian pilot who lives with his dog, Jasper, and former Marine Bangley (Josh Brolin) on an airfield. They take it in turns to keep watch, and Hig regularly flies a small propeller plane with Jasper into a depopulated Denver for supplies. When Hig’s life gets further upended and he picks up on a radio signal from Grand Junction, he decides to leave the airfield and discover if that might be a better place to live.

Sadly, The Dog Stars has received a very muted reception, with many finding the film underpowered and derivative. That’s a shame because I found Ridley Scott’s latest to be a riveting and contemplative piece with some terrific performances and exciting set-pieces. It’s no surprise that the world building is first-rate, given Scott’s back catalogue – underneath the rural and lush landscapes lies a simmering threat that people’s lives are expendable. There’s some stunning aerial photography by Erik Messerschmidt and Scott directs the rare outbursts of violence with real flair – three characters trying to escape a field by plane is particularly tense, as is an action sequence set at an airport.

The performances are uniformly excellent – Elordi downplays the quiet Hig as someone who doesn’t know what to do with his life, while Brolin’s clearly having fun as the toughened Bangley. Margaret Qualley is brilliant as Cima, a young medic Hig encounters, as is Guy Pearce as her untrusting father, who may well be the highlight of the quartet. Although in smaller roles, there’s also fun turns from Allison Janney and Benedict Wong, and the largely acoustic guitar-based score from Harry Gregson-Williams compliments the film’s introspective tone.

The Dog Stars may not break new ground, but I really admired its reflective, yet downbeat tone and its willingness to take things at a gentle pace, with the script refreshingly prioritising developing its well-rounded characters, who bond over their shared losses. Although it’s a dystopian sci-fi, The Dog Stars is more akin to a futuristic Western. I had a great time with it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were to be critically re-evaluated as time passes – this is an excellent late Ridley Scott effort and I’m looking forward to rewatching it.