[5]
Director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) dips a toe into the post-apocalypse with this story about a pilot who runs supplies to the few remaining people who weren’t wiped out by a deadly flu. Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein, Saltburn) plays the pilot, a man who lost his wife and child to the plague and now lives in a state of constant vigilance on a remote airfield with a gruff ex-marine played by Josh Brolin and a faithful German Shepherd named Jasper. Elordi’s character clings to hope that there’s a better life out there somewhere. After intruders kill poor Jasper, he ditches Brolin and decides to fly toward Grand Junction, Colorado, where he’s received faint radio transmissions.
Of course, things never go according to plan. Elordi’s plane malfunctions and he crash lands in the middle of nowhere, where he meets and begins to fall in love with a young woman played by Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). She and her father (Guy Pearce) help Elordi repair his airplane just in time for an attack from ‘reapers’, seemingly feral young men who pillage and murder wherever they roam. Qualley and Pearce are forced to take off with Elordi and the three follow Elordi’s instincts to Grand Junction. But will it be Elordi’s hoped-for oasis, or another layer of Hell?
The Dog Stars is bound to disappoint any viewers who have come to expect action or horror from their post-apocalyptic tales. There is precious little action in this film and visceral carnage is kept to a minimum. Viewers should be prepared for something closer to “Little House on the Post-Apocalyptic Prairie”, where we’re simply hanging out with the characters during their day-to-day existence. And believe it or not, the apocalypse can be dreadfully boring. The first two-thirds of The Dog Stars are a slog to get through. The characters aren’t clearly defined enough to be engaging and the point of the film remains buried for far too long.
Even if you enjoy the first two-thirds, you may be jarred and confounded by the surreal and darkly comedic third act. It feels like a completely different movie. I really dug the wild turn and found the film much more interesting afterwards. The characters finally become somewhat endearing and the point of the film becomes clear. Ridley Scott and author Peter Heller seem to indicate the quest for happiness isn’t an outward one, but an inner one, related to letting go of the past and finding joy in the people around us.
I normally appreciate characters who speak with action more than words, but in the case of Elordi’s and Brolin’s characters, I desperately wanted more dialogue and interaction. Their characters represent two different life philosophies and their bromance wants to be the film’s emotional throughline. Even though the characters aren’t strong enough to sustain the film (until the end), the performances are all solid. Elordi and Brolin are cast-to-type, with Elordi playing his usual blend of sullen and charming, and Brolin further underscoring his rough-and-tumble, devil-may-care screen persona. Qualley is easy-going and Pearce brings much needed humor as her cantankerous father.
It’s possible The Dog Stars is another Ridley Scott film that will get better on second or third viewings (like The Counselor). It has a compelling setting and interesting things to say about humanity and survival. It was starting to affect me in the last half hour. But that first ninety minutes — slow, unfocused, and dull — really hinder the movie.
With Allison Janney and Benedict Wong.