The Dog Stars

Set against a sun-bleached Colorado of 2035, The Dog Stars unfolds in a world left gasping after a devastating viral outbreak has reshaped human civilization. The landscape is equal but harsh wilderness, where the sky still belongs to those bold enough to fly it, and every shadow could conceal friend or foe. Atmospheric and quietly mournful, the film paints survival as a daily rhythm of routine and vigilance, where kindness flickers like a candle in the wind against the encroaching dark.

At the heart of this story is Hig (Jacob Elordi), a young pilot who shares an abandoned airfield with his loyal dog and with Bangley (Josh Brolin), a hardened former marine whose skepticism is matched only by his deadly efficiency. Together they have carved out a self-sufficient existence, trading with a nearby Mennonite colony for supplies while keeping a wary distance from scattered bands of scavengers. Their partnership is a study in contrasts — Hig’s quiet hope against Bangley’s blunt pragmatism — bound by mutual need and the unspoken grief they each carry from what the world used to be. Jasper, Hig’s constant companion, weaves through their days as a reminder that gentleness can still survive among the ruins.

The fragile equilibrium is stirred by a faint radio signal that Hig has been tracking for years, a whispered possibility that something more than mere survival might exist beyond the horizon. Drawn by a longing he cannot fully explain, Hig feels the pull of the unknown even as Bangley counsels caution. The film builds its tension not from spectacle alone, but from the interior weight of a choice: to remain in the safety of what is known, or to chase the fragile hope that humanity persists in places he has never seen. With each takeoff and each quiet night beneath the stars, the question of what waits out there grows louder, shaping a journey that is as much about rekindling the heart as it is about navigating a broken world.