Even the Stars of 'The Dog Stars' Can't Save Ridley Scott's Adaptation
About this episode
Sophie and Rudi discuss Ridley Scott's adaptation of 'The Dog Stars' and its differences from the original novel.
This week, Sophie and Rudi discuss “ The Dog Stars ,” director Ridley Scott’s adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel of the same name. Set in a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by a flu pandemic that wiped out most of humanity, the film stars Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce as survivors navigating this bleak reality. Before getting into the film, Sophie and Rudi discuss two modern slasher films they each recently watched: 2022’s “ Influencer ,” directed by Kurtis David Harder, and Jane Schoenbrun’s new movie “ Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma ,” which stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson (00:01:43). Then they talk about “The Dog Stars” (00:05:03), starting with background on the book and its author Heller (00:06:31) before discussing the film’s development (00:09:30) and taking a look back at the 88-year-old Scott’s prolific output since his 2015 adaptation of Andy Weir’s “The Martian.” From there, Sophie and Rudi get into the film’s plot (00:14:56), which centers on Elordi’s grief-stricken former mechanic Hig, and why they found the movie to be an unsuccessful and at times baffling adaptation. As they discuss the plot, Sophie details some of…
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