Australian actor Jacob Elordi stars as pilot Hig in Sir Ridley Scott's new post-apocalyptic drama The Dog Stars, which has arrived in cinemas.
The 118-minute film, carrying a 15 certificate and a three-star rating, follows Elordi's immaculately stubbled former mechanic and his Belgian Malinois, Jasper, navigating a ruined world in 2035 after a flu pandemic wipes out human civilisation.
Living at an abandoned airfield in Colorado alongside gruff former Marine Bangley, played by Josh Brolin, the pair maintain a fragile existence. Bangley insists they are living the American Dream: "Food, power, water, weapons and a perimeter we can defend."
Their stockpile remains under constant threat from "reapers", described as marauding tribes of lithe, extravagantly tattooed, machete-wielding scavengers who resemble an unusually violent contemporary dance troupe. Elordi, who gained international recognition in the 2023 satire Saltburn and recently appeared in Wuthering Heights, gives a soulful performance as the optimistic survivor seeking broader human connection.
Flight across the wasteland
Seeking life beyond the perimeter, Hig takes to the skies in a rickety Cessna aircraft. His journey leads to encounters with a series of underdeveloped characters, including a potential love interest played by Margaret Qualley, her suspicious "Pops" played by Guy Pearce, and a Mennonite community led by Benedict Wong.
The journey also features Allison Janney as a deliciously creepy former flight attendant who feels as though she has jetted in from an entirely different movie. Adapted from Peter Heller's 2012 novel, the story focuses on a warming, "celebrate the simple things" ethos, highlighting morning coffee, cigarettes, playing fetch, and technical self-reliance.
The 88-year-old Scott, who has directed five films this decade with no sign of The Dog Stars being his swan song, shifts the movie's pace in its final act. After two-thirds of an enjoyable, slightly melancholy post-apocalyptic hang-out film, Scott unleashes tense, thunderous, and bloodthirsty set-pieces reminiscent of his previous works Alien, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down, supported by Erik Messerschmidt's sweeping aerial cinematography.
Pedro Almodovar returns with Bitter Christmas
Sharing cinema schedules alongside Scott's release is Bitter Christmas, a 111-minute drama carrying a 15 certificate and a three-star rating from 76-year-old Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar.
The title refers to a classic Mexican break-up song. Almodovar, the acclaimed director behind All About My Mother and Volver, has described the project as "the riskiest film I've ever made."
The melodrama flickers between two distinct eras, beginning in 2026 with ageing filmmaker Raul, played by Leonardo Sbaraglia sporting an Almodovarian shock of silver hair. Raul struggles to complete a script until he mines a personal tragedy in the life of Monica, his loyal, long-suffering personal assistant played by Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, to craft his ending.
Melodrama and creative mirrors
The narrative within Raul's script shifts to Christmas 2004, centering on Elsa, played by Barbara Lennie. Elsa is an advertising director suffering from migraines and panic attacks amid unresolved grief following her mother's death.
Elsa's life includes a handsome boyfriend named Bonifacio, played by Patrick Criado, who works as a fireman by day and a stripper by night. She is surrounded by a colorful clutch of glamorous, highly neurotic women who appear on the verge of a nervous breakdown, framed against a volcanic palette of tomato reds and hot pinks.
The film distinguishes itself by depicting a filmmaker making a film about a filmmaker making a film. Almodovar turns the lens on his own vampiric creativity, calling it "the film where I've been the cruellest to myself." Both Bitter Christmas and The Dog Stars are currently showing in cinemas.
