Hig and Jas. Photograph: 20th Century Studios / Click to view the trailer.
Before the screening, I knew nothing about the plot. British director Sir Ridley Scott drew me into the dystopian world of Peter Heller’s 2013 novel, The Dog Stars, which is now enjoying a surge in popularity.
Readers seeking an English softcover of Heller’s sci-fi novel, which has not been translated into Finnish, face long waits for a copy from Helsinki libraries.
Libraries outside the capital region rarely carry it, while national bookstores list it as order-only. I guess there’s no other way to look at it: Finns trust Scott. And Scott trusts screenwriter Mark L. Smith’s—who penned The Revenant (2015)—to adapt the story into a film.
Over a career spanning 30 full-length films, Scott has built a reputation for visual storytelling and literary adaptations. Now 88, he first captured cinemagoers’ imaginations with his feature-film debut, The Duellists (1977), a Napoleonic-era masterpiece.
I guess there’s no other way to look at it: Finns trust Scott.
Most remember Scott from classics like Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000), Hannibal (2001), Robin Hood (2010) and so on.
The Dog Stars follows Hig (Jacob Elordi), a young pilot living with military survivalist Bangley (Josh Brolin) in a harsh post-apocalyptic world. When Hig hears a mysterious radio transmission, he embarks on a journey to find hope and humanity.
Scott once again shows his eye for casting. Elordi is fresh off the debates surrounding his performance in Wuthering Heights (2026), where he portrayed a callous character.
In The Dog Stars, he brings that same inwardness to the role, while allowing a warmer affection to emerge through his relationship with his dog, a Belgian Malinois named Jas—a sturdy and lively companion with some gray on his nose.
While Elordi pulled a hamstring in a running sequence, the way Jas and his two stunt doubles take over the action deserves an award.
Film veteran Josh Brolin delivers as usual with familiar military bearing, marking his second collaboration with the British director since American Gangster (2007).
Newcomer to Scott’s cinematic world, Margaret Qualley, came onto Scott’s radar after her charismatic performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) as Pussycat.
Scott cooks up another winner.
Ridley Scott is a craftsman across virtually every film genre and an auteur who shoots with up to 12 cameras simultaneously, with lenses trained on the actors at all times; Scott cooks up another winner.
Scott’s a tireless worker with a knack for stunning imagery, and he knows how to bring it to the screen.
He carries on as if he were ageless.
And we, the viewers, are better for it.
‘The Dog Stars’ opens in cinemas on August 28.
FILM DETAILS
Title: The Dog Stars
Cast: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong, Allison Janney
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriter: Mark L. Smith
Cinematographer: Erik Messerschmid
Producers: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Mark L. Smith, Cliff Roberts
Production year: 2026
Running time: 118 minutes
