Movies that involve dogs usually give me shivers. They are often sickly sentimental with an obvious full-on emotional ending, or just plain annoying. Cujo was an exception, but that was a dog with rabies, and Channing Tatum’s 2022 Dog managed to avoid the usual potholes. Now we have Heart of the Beast, a survival movie which has a dog at the centre of the story. What we get, and what’s totally unexpected, is not a morkish story but one with genuine love and compassion, and a film that mixes adrenaline-fuelled excitement with a real tale of pure friendship.
Retired Special Forces officer James is living a life of freedom with his combat service dog, Odin. Travelling through the Alaskan wilderness, their journey turns into a fight for survival after James crashes his plane, and the two must overcome the natural elements to find their way home.
It would be easy to make another movie about two lost souls bonding while facing rapid rivers and wild animals. Yet, David Ayer, whose films have been mixed bags with End of Watch and Fury, to the uneven Suicide Squad and Working Man, handles this with real aplomb, understanding that this needs to be more than just another movie about fighting the elements. The main core of the story is the relationship between James and Odin. If that doesn’t work, then the film doesn’t.
With beautiful scenery and strong use of the environment, we watch these two lost souls try to get back to civilisation, and after everything they’ve been through, they need each other more than they realise. Using distorted flashbacks, both soldier and dog suffer from PTDS, with Odin waking up with nightmares as we see the pair thrown into combat zones and doing their job. Their bond after their experiences adds an emotional edge to the tale. Odin, now with metal teeth and a false leg, loves James and is willing to do whatever it takes to look after him. The same is said of James. This is beyond a friendship. This is mutual trust and a love for each other.
Like Robert Redford’s survival movie All Is Lost, this is a film that focuses on the lengths that man, and in this case, beast, will go to get out of a remote land where no one will find them, in the hope that they will find a way to civilisation. Yet like the Redford film, what can go wrong certainly does, and you want the pair to succeed. Ayer directs the set pieces superbly, and you feel your heart pound as they face another moment that could end in tragedy.
A film like this can only work if you really care for the characters, and both Brad Pitt as James and Uber as Odin certainly manage that. Pitt really shines here. A tough, yet quiet man who has lived a life of hell and got through it with many a scar, he has so much compassion and love for the dog that you genuinely believe these two are the best friends in the world. He would do anything for this creature, and likewise. It’s one of Pitt’s finest screen moments.
Uber, however, outshines Pitt as his canine partner. This is an amazing dog, who has more screen charisma than his co-star, if that is even possible. At times, the camera cuts in close on Odin’s face, and you can tell exactly what the dog is thinking. It’s an extraordinary performance and one that will melt even the hardest of hearts. There’s also a small cameo from J.K. Simmons that brings a touch of humour to the show.
Heart of the Beast is a triumph. It’s exciting, beautiful to look at and has one of the best screen partnerships you will ever see. If you don’t leave the cinema with a swelling heart and the excuse that something is in your eye, nothing will break you. Truly wonderful.
4 out of 5
Director: David Ayer
Starring: Brad Pitt, Uber, J.K.Simmons, Anna Lambe
Written by: Cameron Alexander
Running Time: 101 mins
Cert: 12A
Release date: 23rd September 2026
