After a virus has wiped out the majority of the population, the surviving members of the human race band together in different pockets of what is left of civilisation. Hig (Jacob Elordi) and his faithful dog Jasper live together with Bangley (Josh Brolin) on a remote airfield. Whilst Bangley is content with survival, Hig seeks more human interaction, but can other survivors be trusted in this world?

The Dog Stars, based on a 2012 novel by Peter Heller, is being grossly mis-sold as a late summer blockbuster from the veteran director Ridley Scott. If you go in expecting Hig and Bangley to be saving the world and for the film to be replete with stylish action, you are going to be grossly disappointed. The Dog Stars instead is a slow meditation on grief and the grail that its protagonist is looking for is a means to move on from paralysing grief via human interaction. As a result, the small number of action sequences, as consummately delivered as they are, feel a little out of place.

The film begins in a quiet fashion, slowly letting us see Hig’s routines. He flies himself and Jasper on supply runs; medicine, food, drink, and sits in his old house daydreaming of his pregnant wife who he lost to the epidemic. Jasper is the only thing keeping him going as he sleepwalks through his grief. Bangley on the other hand is comfortable where he is. A loner who is happy to shoot first, ask questions later. Hig is struggling though and decides he needs to head out further than the fuel tank of his plane can take him in order to investigate a vague signal he keeps picking up.

The film is at its best in its reflective mode. Science fiction at its best explores the human spirit and what makes us who we are. Here the focus is on the need for human interaction to enrich our lives. We later meet other survivors, Cima (Margaret Qualley), Pops (Guy Pearce), Aaron (Benedict Wong) and Darlene (Allison Janney) who are all navigating the new world in their own way with different losses to deal with. And there are allusions to violent gangs whose approach is more nihilistic.

When it steps outside of this it delivers three action sequences that are thoroughly brilliant in execution, but also somewhat jarring in amongst the sedate pace elsewhere. One of these sequences is particularly discombobulating. Brilliant in execution, but somewhat from left-field. They are the sort of sequences that remind you that Ridley Scott is still one of the great visual filmmakers working today, but they also pull you away from the much more interesting character study that surrounds them.

It is probably the best film by Ridley Scott since 2021’s The Last Duel. Incredibly, for a man in his eighty-ninth year this is his fourth feature since then. It features some of the best cinematography you will see this year, the aerial shots are breathtaking, and is backed by a beautiful score. As mentioned before, he is no slouch when it comes to delivering action either.

It also has a cast to die for as well. Elordi and Qualley are convincing as damaged, grieving individuals carefully negotiating the possibility of loving again. Brolin and Pearce on the other hand do world weary and grizzled perfectly.

The biggest criticism at hand is that the film is better made than the material deserves. The cinematography is beautiful, the performances are excellent and the action sequences are gripping, but underneath all of that The Dog Stars is not doing anything particularly new or innovative. Its exploration of grief and the need for human connection is well handled, but it never quite reaches the emotional depth that might have made this quiet approach truly memorable. The result is a film that is easy to admire, but slightly harder to love.

If you want lyrical rather than bombast, The Dog Stars will delight.