Peter Heller’s 2012 novel The Dog Stars was a bestseller, which might explain why Ridley Scott (Gladiator) wanted to make it into a movie. But in 2026—after more post-apocalyptic movies and series than I can count on both hands—the story of folks trying not to be desperately miserable after the end of the world feels awfully familiar. It doesn’t help that this first trailer went for the painfully-on-the-nose song choice with Nine Inch Nails’ “The Day the World Went Away.” If you can watch this trailer without snorting a little bit at the lyrics, you are made of stronger stuff than I.
But we are clearly meant to take this all very seriously. Jacob Elordi plays a pilot who thought himself very lucky before the end of the world. He had—but does not seem to still have—a wife. He hangs out with a haggard Josh Brolin and a very clean-faced Margaret Qualley. It seems like almost everyone else left in the world … really sucks.
As the synopsis says:
The film tells the story of Hig (Jacob Elordi), a young pilot who, together with a military survivalist, Bangley (Josh Brolin), has carved out an efficient but isolated homestead in a brutal post-apocalyptic world. But when Hig receives a mysterious radio transmission, he ventures into the unknown in search of the hope and humanity he still believes exist.
There is also a dog, and I can only assume nothing good happens to them.
Unlike a lot of other end-of-the-world scenarios, this trailer does have a handful of gorgeous shots of the world without humans, lush and green. But there are also empty cities shot in a chilly blue-brown light that recalls The Walking Dead. I don’t think there are actual zombies here—just desperate people resorting to violence and destruction, like they always do in the movies, no matter what the facts tell us.
The Dog Stars has a great cast that also includes Allison Janney, Benedict Wong, and Guy Pearce. The world ends in theaters on August 28th.
