“The Dog Stars” (2026) is a more sensationalized adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel. Set in May 2035 after a pandemic has decimated the human population, Hig Haver (Jacob Elordi) is tired of surviving and wants to find “something better than this.” Bruce Bangley (Josh Brolin) discourages his friend’s wanderlust and desire to explore beyond Denver to get supplies, claims that they are living the good life, and encourages killing any intruders. A voice on the radio beckons travelers to come to Grand Junction. Hig sets off for that destination. How will Hig find what he is looking for and what is civilization? Embedded in the story is a meta critique of movie goers’ appetite for dystopian movies, but this version is guilty of remixing images of cowboys versus Indians to suit twenty-first century tastes without crossing the third rail of racism by offering a Benetton ad of homespun goodness.
Do you want to see Elordi for almost two hours simultaneously looking hopeful and mournful while playing with his dog, Jasper (Raksha and two other dogs), amidst gorgeous vistas? There is a scene where a donkey named Sarah with a good eye spots him, fetches him, brings him back to the nearest heterosexual woman, and proceeds to help with work, yet Sarah’s fate remains unknown. Justice for Sarah! And kudos to the casting director who swapped Elordi out for Paul Mescal, who was busy being a Beatle. Elordi is not just a pretty face, but an affable presence who can brood with the best of them and may be the perfect match for the oversized vistas. Elordi is big. It’s the pictures that got small, but with director Ridley Scott at the helm, they got grand again. Huge stretches of “The Dog Stars” relies on Hig looking out at the horizon as he flies his old yellow Cessna among awesome mountains shot in Italy’s Dolemite mountains. What is with Scott and Italy? Anyway, because Hig is a widow, the story signals that he is perfect. He could be a complete horror, and it would still be realistic that the nearest heterosexual woman would be tempted to vouch for him and shoot her shot. There are a ton of Elvis Easter eggs likely in honor of Elordi playing the King in “Priscilla” (2023).
While the trailers make “The Dog Stars” seem like the customary summer action packed blockbuster, think again. It is more contemplative than that. It is an elaborate puzzle of a movie with multiple oddly shaped pieces struggling to come together to answer the riddle of what does the good American life look like? The city is not it. No one is in the city except a spot of trouble and an elevator full of supplies. Will someone write in if “I Am Legend” (2007) inspired Heller’s book? The current isolated countryside is not it with Aaron (Benedict Wong) as the head of a vibrant Mennonite community filled with children, but dropping like flies because there are no vaccines (actual dialogue). There is an adorable scene with the children loving on Jasper with his belly up looking like the happiest dog in the world. Bangley’s kill or be killed hangar of goodies is not it. During his travels, Hig meets Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her dad, Pops or Jack (Guy Pearce), who is initially suspicious of the tall handsome stranger, but comes around thanks to his addiction to legal substances. Then there is Darlene (Allison Janney) from Grand Junction still dressed in her stewardess uniform like a blast from the past, but also a little off because the caked on, doll like makeup is unsettling. And the past got everyone into this mess.
The catalyst for everything coming together are the Raiders or Reapers or whatever. I need subtitles. I thought Hig’s name was Hick. Even though the Rs have formed a community and never attack each other, they are depicted as chaotic, violent and savage complete with whoops, face paint, exposed torsos proportional to the amount suitable to gender, hatchets and axes, arrows. Do they all look indigenous? Not at all, but some do. There is a group that look like they wandered off the set of the latest George Miller film, and the makeup department just added some black squiggles then called it good enough. Are they the same group or different? Probably the latter, but largely the same in spirit. For instance, in one scene, they chase down the Cessna determined to stop it. It kind of does not make sense since they have what they want: the stuff. They are blood thirsty for blood thirsty sake within the story, but as a narrative device, they are the motivation to get people out of their safety zone and forces them to sign up for Hig’s mission.
Is it ok to use stereotypical images if they are not being applied in a derogatory fashion to the original group? I’m going to defer to indigenous critics, but as for me and my house, I felt a little queasy and found myself thinking of the Reavers from “Serenity” (2005), who were mindless, and I never associated with old Western cinematic imagery despite literally being a Space Western. It could be the timing. It could be the contrast of civilizations. While “The Dog Stars” makes up for the whole settler, colonizer aesthetic, and the substance of the message was more melting pot, it is still troubling. Also, while I have not read the book, the summary seems to suggest that this element was a deliberate cinematic construct. Heller has blessed this movie, but even so…. For a movie that suggests that the dystopian world does not have to be dystopian, it still chose to add in more dystopia, and it is a cynical creative choice compounding cinema’s original sin of resting on racist imagery. Someone cue the Cherokee proverb about which wolf you choose to feed. Ridley has done some of the most inventive, original images of all time. He does not have to rest on the not-golden oldies. More importantly, the sop is not big enough to satisfy the audience looking for more than a few fits of action.
On the other hand, “The Dog Stars” definitely reflects a Covid influence missing in most movies from the positive reference to vaccines from Mennonites to checking people’s temperature before they enter an enclosure. It may be the most unrealistic and quaint feature of the movie that signals it is not really American in spirit. (All the writers are American, but just visit Boston, the heart of American medicine. Nope, not even here can we behave similarly.) For Scott, it is an optimistic movie because life affirming vibes trump suicidal ideation. It takes some guts to imagine utopia during a real-life dystopia.
“The Dog Stars” will appeal to audiences who are enjoying the mental health storylines that the Marvel Cinematic Universe offers, but people who are looking for more bang for their buck should probably only see it during matinee hours. Also, fans of the cast will consider it a must-see movie, but if you are not into them, this movie will be utter torture. You got your existential crisis in my dystopia. You got your dystopia in my existential crisis.
