The Dog Stars (2026) Movie Review

The Dog Stars (2026) Movie Review: Simply Fails to Stand Out

We personally had high expectations for The Dog Stars, despite how muted its marketing and trailers may have seemed. With Ridley Scott at the helm and a cast that includes Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, and Margaret Qualley, the film had all the ingredients for something special which is a post-apocalyptic story that could blend action, survival, drama, and even romance. Unfortunately, what we ultimately get is almost exactly what the marketing suggested: muted. Throughout its runtime, we kept waiting for something significant or exciting to happen but the film commits heavily to its slow-burn approach and rushes its conclusion for some reason. Don't get us wrong, we understood what The Dog Stars was trying to accomplish. The problem is that its execution never quite justifies the patience it asks from its audience.

Set after a devastating flu pandemic, Hig (Jacob Elordi) is a former civilian pilot and mechanic who lives in isolation with Bangley (Josh Brolin), a hardened former Marine. Their daily lives revolve around survival, protecting their home, and dealing with the occasional threat from the outside world. Hig holds on to the hope that there might be something more beyond their isolated existence. When he receives a mysterious radio transmission, he decides to follow the signal toward Grand Junction, believing it could lead him to something worth risking his safety.

With so much post-apocalyptic material already out there, standing out in the genre is difficult. The Dog Stars initially finds an interesting way to do so by largely putting the apocalypse itself in the background. Instead of focusing on the destruction of civilization, the film spends much of its first half exploring what it actually means to live after the world has ended. That slower approach actually worked for us. Rather than feeling like filler, these moments gave us time to think about what survival would realistically look like. The film's strongest quality is its ability to make this post-apocalyptic world feel grounded and real. Jacob Elordi is particularly effective as Hig bringing a quiet vulnerability to a character who is clearly searching for something beyond just surviving. 

Unfortunately, the film begins to lose its identity in the second half. Once Hig encounters more survivors and the story starts moving toward a more traditional post-apocalyptic action narrative, the meticulousness that made the earlier portions so effective disappears. The pacing suddenly becomes rushed, the action feels underwhelming, and the film's once-grounded atmosphere gives way to something much more conventional and unconvincing. And that's where the biggest disappointment is. The slow buildup isn't the problem but that the eventual payoff doesn't match the invested time. All that patience leads to a second half that feels rushed and surprisingly ordinary.

Rating: 2 and a half reels