The Dog Stars First Reviews: Beautifully Shot and Full of Hope, but A Little Unfocused and Too Familiar
Critics say Jacobe Elordi exudes leading-man charisma, but the story wanders and fails to bring anything new to the post-apocalypse genre.
Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars opens this weekend, and the first reviews are now online, giving the veteran filmmaker one of his lower Tomatometer scores. Based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Peter Heller, the familiar post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie is set after a devastating pandemic and stars Oscar-nominated actors Josh Brolin, Jacob Elordi, and Guy Pearce, alongside Margaret Qualley. While the cinematography is being praised abundantly, and the cast is expectedly strong, the script is reportedly not on the level that Scott deserves.
- Recommended: Ridley Scott Movies Ranked
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Here’s what critics are saying about The Dog Stars:
Has Ridley Scott made another must-see classic?
The Dog Stars seems unlikely to land near the top of anyone’s Ridley Scott rankings. But it’s an appealingly mellow watch.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
If not quite a return to form…[it] is at least a return to baseline competency after the gilded train wreck that was Gladiator II.
– Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
The Dog Stars is still pretty good as far as middle-tier Ridley Scott movies go. While not one of his classics, he’s still a pro at creating atmosphere.
– Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network
[It’s] the kind of movie Hollywood used to make a lot more often than they do now. Hopefully, audiences find it.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
The Dog Stars isn’t a total misfire — it’s just the first Ridley Scott joint in some years that feels totally unnecessary.
– Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire
It is rare that Scott releases an actively boring film, but here we are.
– Grant Watson, Fiction Machine
The Dog Stars is unfortunately Scott’s first in a long while where the haphazard nature of the film isn’t even fascinating to watch.
– Joshua Mbonu, Geek Vibes Nation
The Dog Stars… continues Scott’s late-stage slide into mediocrity.
– Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
How does it compare to his other movies?
It’s arguably Ridley Scott’s best since The Martian 11 years ago.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
It’s nowhere near Sir Ridley’s finest, but at least it’s another subtype of speculative fiction filmmaking he can check off his bucket list.
– Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
The Dog Stars cements itself as both the weakest and most prodigiously empty of Scott’s most recent works.
– Joshua Mbonu, Geek Vibes Nation
It’s a movie that doesn’t feel like Scott at either his most bombastic or thought-provoking, but it’s certainly one of his most basic ones.
– Kristen Lopez, The Film Maven
It’s his most lackluster offering in over a decade.
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
This wasteland narrative is the most tedious film of Scott’s career.
– Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
Is it more hopeful than he’s typically known for?
Some might wonder if Scott is going soft in his senior years in some of the concluding developments, which provide hope for humanity’s resilience.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
The film’s optimism ultimately keeps it from ever turning into a slog.
– Gabrielle Moss, Collider
Occasionally, the director has permitted himself a little more faith in people. His new picture lacks the ingenuity and confidence of his 2015 picture The Martian, but the two films share a stubborn belief that humans’ inherent decency and resourcefulness can, every once in a while, save the day.
– Tim Grierson, Screen International
Scott goes almost laughably soft in the film’s closing stanzas, not to mention cuts a couple of giant corners in order to reach his pat and unconvincing happily-ever-after.
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
How is the action?
Scott’s flair for tactile world-building is most excitingly felt in the tense, elaborate, and bloody battle sequences.
– Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
In its most climactic moments, The Dog Stars resembles the explosive warfare of Black Hawk Down.
– Jake Kleinman, Polygon
When the action is present, it yields some of the best moments found in the movie.
– Kristen Lopez, The Film Maven
[It’s] a long shot to satisfy short-attention-span consumers of brawny action.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
First and foremost, despite a pair of crackerjack action sequences, this is a movie where character development takes the front seat.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
The Dog Stars may disappoint viewers wanting an explosive action-horror comparable to I Am Legend, The Last Of Us or 28 Years Later.
– Tim Grierson, Screen International
Ridley Scott’s attempt at a post-apocalyptic thriller never fully commits to whether it wants to be an action movie or horror, settling for minute bits of each.
– Edward Douglas, The Weekend Warrior
Who is The Dog Stars recommended for?
More mature audiences open to a vision of the dystopian future in which bleakness and savagery are countered by human compassion and hope should check it out.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
[It has] a little something to please everybody, but a whole that will likely only genuinely thrill a few.
– Gabrielle Moss, Collider
Does it bring anything fresh to the post-apocalypse genre?
The Dog Stars manages to feel more real than most post-apocalyptic stories.
– Jake Kleinman, Polygon
The Dog Stars has hardly an original idea or image to set it apart from its neo-western brethren.
– Eli Friedberg, Slant Magazine
In a world of seven Walking Dead shows, the beats are now far too familiar, and there’s nothing new or notable here to conjure anything but deja vu.
– Benjamin Lee, Guardian
It’s a Frankenstein of so many other post-apocalyptic films, from I Am Legend to a full crossover into other subgenres with 28 Days Later.
– Joshua Mbonu, Geek Vibes Nation
You almost yearn for the post-apocalyptic movie clichés this film is so intent on resisting.
– Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire
How does the movie look?
Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt deserves every accolade thrown at him, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he were nominated for another Academy Award.
– Allison Rose, FlickDirect
There’s plenty of texture in Messerschmidt’s cinematography — especially when seen in IMAX — with dynamic camerawork in action scenes and soaring, crystalline images in the flight sequences.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Messerschmidt’s gorgeous cinematography, using Scott’s usual multi-camera setups, is a star unto itself.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Some of the film’s best moments are just Elordi wandering around the wasteland with luscious airplane cinematography by Scott and DP Erik Messerschmidt.
– Joshua Mbonu, Geek Vibes Nation
The scenery is genuinely stunning (and surely afforded all those involved a lovely vacation) but, as in Gladiator II, there are some weirdly janky visual effects.
– Benjamin Lee, Guardian
The Dog Stars is a movie full of inert visuals lacking specificity or personality.
– Lisa Laman, Land of the Nerds
Messerschmidt’s work here lacks a lively spirit.
– Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire
Does it have a good script?
Smith’s script is light on psychological complexity, and there’s a sense in the later action that the movie has been chopped about a bit in the edit.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
It’s the kind of writing that, for all the film’s attempts to whip up a folksy charm, never feels convincingly lived-in; our investment then at a minimum when chaos inevitably lands.
– Benjamin Lee, Guardian
The Dog Stars goes completely and delightfully off the rails in a surprising third act. I won’t spoil anything about that big twist here.
– Jake Kleinman, Polygon
[It’s] a screenplay that progressively gets worse the longer it goes on.
– Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
The Dog Stars script, written by Mark L. Smith, is the film’s dead weight, full of leaden dialogue that’s fine in a novel and sounds wildly contrived coming out of a real person’s mouth.
– Leanne Butkovic, IGN Movies
It’s without cohesion, world-building, or a point.
– Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
How is Jacob Elordi’s lead performance?
Jacob Elordi leads with introspective movie-star magnetism that evokes the heyday of Kevin Costner.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Elordi does continue to prove he has the chops to be a movie star.
– Alexander Zalben, Comic Book Club
Continuing to show genuine chops as a leading man… Elordi is terrific.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Elordi is reliable enough in the role, yet far more bland than I thought possible for a performer of his caliber.
– Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
He seems as fatigued by playing Hig as we are at watching him. It’s a boringly absent lead performance of empty, stoic stares.
– Benjamin Lee, Guardian
Elordi is the only one who seems miscast, which is a shame and, dare I say, may be part of the reason for the film’s lethargy.
– Allison Rose, FlickDirect
Does anyone else in the cast stand out?
Josh Brolin, who is clearly having the most fun here.
– Joshua Mbonu, Geek Vibes Nation
Brolin is a joy to watch as the curmudgeonly sniper who’s enjoying the end of the world a little more than he should. The film becomes tangibly more fun whenever he’s on screen.
– Gabrielle Moss, Collider
Qualley gives one of her loveliest performances, free from quirks or showy dramatic moments.
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
The work of the three dogs used to play Jasper.
– Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Could it be time for Ridley Scott to retire?
Scott’s skills as a filmmaker are not in decline — they just need to be paired with a strong voice at the writing stage.
– Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
We should all be this good at what we do, 88 years in.
– Alexander Zalben, Comic Book Club
If slowing down isn’t an option, shrewder choices of future material are a must.
– Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Scott’s disinterest in retiring is admirable (he’s openly loathsome of the idea); I just wish he seemed more interested in the day job.
– Benjamin Lee, Guardian
In a world where even the shakiest of his late-stage work was still conceptually engaging, it’s dispiriting to witness.
– Joshua Mbonu, Geek Vibes Nation
The Dog Stars is in theaters on August 28, 2026. Buy tickets on Fandango.
