3/5 starsFrom Mad Max to The Walking Dead and the recent 28 Years Later films, the post-apocalypse has long been fertile ground for filmmakers, even before Covid-19 made us all feel like we were heading in that direction.Veteran filmmaker Ridley Scott finally jumps on the bandwagon with The Dog Stars, a handsome-looking adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel that works only in fits and starts.Set in a present-day America where most of the population has been wiped out by an influenza pandemic, the film stars Jacob Elordi as the tightly wound Hig, a former civilian pilot in the before times. Like most, he knows loss and is nursing grief after the death of his wife and unborn child.The Dog Stars | Official Trailer | In Theaters August 28Now living in Denver alongside Josh Brolin’s sharpshooting survivalist Bangley, he is merely existing day by day, desperate for word of anyone else out there.Piloting an old 1956 Cessna (fuel does not seem to be a problem in this world), Hig is the equivalent of a flying doctor, making trips to the deserted city centre where he distributes much-needed medical supplies, notably to a Mennonite community (featuring Benedict Wong).
Review | The Dog Stars: Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic thriller works in fits and starts
Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin survive in a present-day America where an influenza pandemic has decimated the population.
196 words~1 min read
