Sir Ridley Scott has always been a highly respected director, and his films always generate a certain amount of excitement, although the quality of his movies has been, in the most polite way, hit-or-miss. Starting out strong with The Duellists, Alien, and Blade Runner, there are some films that equal those now classics (Gladiator, Thelma and Louise, The Martian), but most are instantly forgettable (can anyone remember The Counsellor?) The director now returns to sci-fi of sorts with The Dog Stars, a dystopian vision of a world after a deadly pandemic. Yet this will probably end up as forgotten, due to the saturation of this subgenre and a story that goes absolutely nowhere, although there are flashes of how good Scott is as a filmmaker.

The world has been swept by a flu pandemic that has wiped out most of the population, with the few survivors trying to stay alive from hordes of scavengers. Hig, an engineer and pilot, lives on a deserted airfield with Bangley, a former Marine. While Bangley is happy to stay on the land, Hig, haunted by thoughts of his deceased wife, longs to find something beyond their home. Looking for a mysterious voice he hears on his plane radio, he heads out to find out if there is more out there.

Based on the novel by Peter Heller, this follows the same path as 28 Days Later, The Last of Us, and the countless survivors of some apocalypse that have populated the screen for years, so it has to be different; look at it from a different angle. Sadly, it doesn’t; instead, it’s quite happy to follow the pack. We get the deserted streets and overgrown plant life, with burnt-out vehicles and packs of wild dogs scavenging. We get the survivor, this time Hig, haunted by the death of his wife and longing for something more than just sitting around waiting for a band of savages to come and try to take over the airfield.

Once he is out and looking for the mysterious voice, his plane lands near another farm, which has a fellow survivor, Cima, similar to him, with regrets of losing her husband, and the disgruntled Pops, Cima’s father. It’s all very so-so, with long scenes of Hig flying or sitting around talking about his loss, and a handful of set pieces that suddenly bring the film to life, only to return to the same slow pacing and say nothing unique.

Scott is an expert in handling action scenes and there are two particular scenes, including a tense escape from savages, that prove he still has those skills, but instead of going down a more Mad Max path, this just drags its feet, with long shots of scenery from the plane (beautiful as it is) and Hig, sitting in his former home looking into his hands as he remembers his past. One bizarre sequence jars the film and feels like an escape from another movie that popped up here, and while it definitely doesn’t fit, it does, at least, give the film some well-needed life.

The performances are fine but unremarkable. Jacob Elordi is suitably mournful as Hig, while Josh Brolin knows how to play an elderly tough guy and gruff without really trying. Margaret Qualley as Cima is fine, and Guy Pearce was initially unrecognisable as Pops, with a touch of Sam Neill about him. Only a cameo from the always excellent Allison Janney adds a touch of bonkers to the proceedings.

The Dog Stars is not a bad film. It looks great, and a skilled director is doing his thing with the images. It’s not an original idea, and it feels slightly lazy. I’m sure the book is a fine read, but this is not in Scott’s top ten of his best work and will probably be forgotten by the end of the year, or even by the end of the week.

2 out of 5

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, Allison Janney, Benedict Wong, Ewen Bremmer, James Craze, Sam Spruell, Sai Bennett

Written by: Mark L. Smith and (based on the novel) Peter Heller

Running Time: 118 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 28th August 2026