One of the final tentpole films of the summer is set to release this weekend. The Dog Stars, directed by the prolific Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator), will hit theaters nationwide on August 27th. In a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future, a group of survivors attempts to make a home in the midst of an unforgiving world. Starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley, the film certainly isn’t lacking in star power. Still, big names alone don’t guarantee rave reviews. Let’s see how critics are scoring The Dog Stars on Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic, Letterboxd, and more.
Current The Dog Stars Ratings at a Glance
| Rating Source | Score |
| Rotten Tomatoes Critics | 40% |
| Metacritic Critics | 50/100 |
| IMDb | 6.4/10 |
| Letterboxd | 3.0/5 |
The Dog Stars Average Rating Across Major Review Sites
After converting Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, IMDb and Letterboxd scores to a 100-point scale, The Dog Stars currently holds an average rating of 53.5/100 across major review platforms. For a film that was generating plenty of buzz this summer, that mark falls far short of expectations. You don’t cast names like Brolin, Elordi or Qualley without trying to garner serious award consideration. Given the dark subject matter, critical success is even more important for this flick; it’s not a summer blockbuster in the same vein as The End of Oak Street.
The average rating was calculated by converting all available scores to a 100-point scale and averaging the results.
What the Ratings Say About The Dog Stars
Much like some of Scott’s less acclaimed work, The Dog Stars seems like it’s trying to do too much. Frequent complaints include a muddled plot, dragged out pacing, and a fairly generic ending. However, a handful of more positive reviews praise the movie for its pristine cinematography and an optimistic take on an end of the world story.
Odie Henderson of the Boston Globe wasn’t a fan, claiming the film was “three movies in one, none of which is compelling enough to sustain a two-hour runtime.” Ditto for the Seattle Times’ Soren Anderson, calling The Dog Stars “a clunky contraption that creaks and sputters over the picture’s postapocalyptic landscape. It never soars.” Several negative reviews state that it’s a picture that’s less than the sum of its parts, devoid of much passion from Scott and his crew. Rotten Tomatoes critics were the most negative, giving the film a lackluster 40% score on the Tomatometer.
However, The Dog Stars isn’t without its supporters. Time Out’s Simon Crook says that “while there are bursts of Mad Max berserking, The Dog Stars is a surprisingly sensitive meditation on what we could have lost.” Jordan Williams of Screen Rant takes it one step further, proclaiming “the cast, atmosphere, and stunning visuals make the two-hour adaptation an easy-to-watch adventure among summer blockbuster fare.” IMDb critics have the most favorable view of The Dog Stars, with an average score of 6.4/10.
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