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Optimism ‘essential’ in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi movie comeback The Dog Stars
Ridley Scott's 'The Dog Stars,' based on Peter Heller's 2012 novel, brings a message of hope to a post-apocalyptic world. Early reactions are divided, with some praising its emotional depth and others criticizing its pacing. The film stars Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin, and opens in theaters on Aug. 27-28.
Ridley Scott returns to science fiction with "The Dog Stars," a dystopian thriller that the 88-year-old director says carries an essential message of optimism. Based on American author Peter Heller's 2012 novel, the film is set in a post-apocalyptic world after a pandemic wiped out most of humanity. It world-premiered in London on Aug. 20 and opens in theaters this week.
Scott, known for "Alien," "Gladiator," and "The Martian," said he jumped on the project after reading Mark L. Smith's adaptation. "When I get science fiction which works on paper, you have to pay attention. I then react intuitively, and so when I'm halfway through a script like that, I start to perspire in case the writer drops the ball. He didn't, so here we are," he said at the premiere, as reported by The Straits Times.
"There have been so many zombie movies. There are no zombies in this," Scott added, emphasizing that optimism was "essential" to the film.
Cast and Plot
Jacob Elordi plays Hig, a mechanic who survived the pandemic that killed his wife. He lives at an abandoned airport in Erie, Colorado, with his ageing dog and Bangley, an ex-military man played by Josh Brolin. Hig regularly flies an old yellow Cessna to search for survivors and supplies. When he picks up a mysterious radio transmission, he leaves the safety of the homestead to find the sender, encountering Cima (Margaret Qualley) and Pops (Guy Pearce) at their mountain hideout.
The film also stars Allison Janney and Benedict Wong. Wong, who plays a member of a Mennonite community, said the film centers on hope, human decency, and human connection in devastating times.
Most of the film was shot on location in Italy, using multiple cameras. Elordi, 29, praised Scott's directing style, noting that Scott uses ten cameras and cuts the film in his head while watching monitors. "I don't think there's anyone else in the world that films that way," Elordi said in a featurette, as reported by ABC7 Los Angeles.
Brolin echoed the admiration, saying that when he described a scene idea, Scott drew it on the spot, and "those are the four shots that we did, almost identically."
Divergent Early Reactions
Early reactions to "The Dog Stars" are split, according to a roundup by Polygon. Some praise the film's striking visuals, emotional performances, and human take on the post-apocalypse. Phil Roberts of Future of the Force called it a "humble and emotionally weighted change of pace" for Scott, while MovieWeb's Rob Sperduto described it as a "surprisingly optimistic and sincere post-apocalyptic neo-Western," praising Elordi's vulnerability.
Others criticize the film for slow pacing, a familiar story, and an underdeveloped screenplay. Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture argued that the screenplay undercuts Scott's direction, and The HoloFiles called it a generic post-apocalyptic thriller too similar to "The Last of Us" and "28 Days Later."
The split seems to reflect differing expectations: some viewers appreciated the slower, emotional story, while others wanted a faster-paced action thriller.
A Hopeful Message
Peter Heller, whose novel became a New York Times bestseller and was named one of the best books of 2012 by The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Publishers Weekly, said he was "blown away" by the finished film, adding that its message to keep our hearts open is present in the movie. The 29-year-old Elordi said he enjoyed working with his canine co-star Rak Jasper and its team of trainers, and called Scott "the king of epic."
"The Dog Stars" opens in theaters on Aug. 27 in Singapore and Aug. 28 in the U.S., as reported by The Straits Times and Polygon, respectively. ABC7 Los Angeles noted the film opens Friday and included a disclosure that the Walt Disney Company is the parent company of 20th Century Studios and the ABC station.
How each outlet told it
ABC7 Los Angeles
Framing: Focuses on Jacob Elordi's admiration for Ridley Scott's filmmaking technique, specifically the ten-camera method. — Celebratory; uses quotes like 'I'd argue that he's on everyone's list of cinematic heroes' and 'he pioneered modern cinema.'
Facts Included:
Jacob Elordi enjoyed working with Ridley Scott on The Dog Stars.
Elordi called Scott a cinematic hero and visual storyteller.
Film follows survivors in a post-apocalyptic world after a virus wipes out humanity.
Elordi described Scott using ten cameras, sitting in a trailer, and cutting the film in his head.
Josh Brolin said Scott made drawings for his scene idea and they used those shots almost identically.
At the London premiere, Elordi praised Scott to On The Red Carpet's Joelle Garguilo.
Elordi said Scott pioneered modern cinema and had a hand in everything.
Film opens Friday in theaters.
Disclosure that Walt Disney Company is parent of 20th Century Studios and ABC.
Framing: Emphasizes the divisive critical reaction, with a focus on the split between praise and criticism. — Analytical and neutral; presents both positive and negative reactions without endorsing either.
Facts Included:
Early reactions to The Dog Stars are split.
Some praise visuals, emotional performances, and human take on post-apocalypse.
Others criticize slow pacing, familiar story, and underdeveloped screenplay.
Phil Roberts of Future of the Force called it a 'humble and emotionally weighted change of pace'.
Rob Sperduto of MovieWeb called it a 'surprisingly optimistic and sincere post-apocalyptic neo-Western' and praised Elordi's vulnerability.
Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture argued screenplay undercuts Scott's direction.
The HoloFiles called it generic and similar to The Last of Us and 28 Days Later.
Based on Peter Heller's 2012 novel.
Set after a pandemic wiped out much of humanity.
Elordi plays Hig, a civilian pilot living with his dog and Bangley (Josh Brolin), a hardened former Marine.
Plot involves Hig picking up a radio transmission and leaving to find the sender.
The novel was a New York Times bestseller and named one of the best books of 2012 by The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Publishers Weekly.
Cast includes Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Allison Janney, and Benedict Wong.
Directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, whose credits include The Revenant and American Primeval.
Framing: Emphasizes optimism as 'essential' in Scott's sci-fi comeback, highlighting the hopeful message. — Promotional and optimistic; uses quotes like 'optimism ... was essential' and 'decenters on hope'.
Facts Included:
Ridley Scott returns to sci-fi after nearly a decade with a dystopian thriller carrying a message of hope.
Film is based on Peter Heller's 2012 novel of the same name.
Jacob Elordi plays Hig, a mechanic who survived a pandemic that killed his wife.
Josh Brolin plays ex-military man Bangley.
Margaret Qualley plays Cima and Guy Pearce plays Pops.
World premiere in London on Aug 20.
Scott said he reacted intuitively to Mark L. Smith's adaptation and worried the writer might drop the ball.
Scott noted there are no zombies and emphasized optimism as essential.
Most filming occurred on location in Italy, shot on multiple cameras.
Elordi said Ridley is the king of epic and enjoyed working with dog actor Rak Jasper and its trainers.
Heller was 'blown away' by the film and said the message to keep hearts open is in the movie.
Benedict Wong plays a member of a Mennonite community and commented on hope and human decency.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimRidley Scott returns to science-fiction films after nearly a decade with a dystopian thriller, The Dog Stars.
ClaimBenedict Wong, who plays a member of a Mennonite community, said the film centres on hope, human decency, and human connection in devastating times.
ClaimRob Sperduto of MovieWeb called The Dog Stars a 'surprisingly optimistic and sincere post-apocalyptic neo-Western' and praised Elordi's vulnerability.
ClaimThe Dog Stars became a New York Times bestseller and was named one of the best books of 2012 by The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Publishers Weekly.