The Dog Stars

What’s it about?

In a post-apocalyptic world, a virus wipes out humanity. Survivors face roaming scavengers called Reapers. Protagonist Hig, a pilot, survived the flu but lost his wife.

The facts 

• Directed by Ridley Scott (Gladiator II)
• Starring Jacob Elordi (“Wuthering Heights”), Margaret Qualley (The Substance), Benedict Wong (Weapons), Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame), Allison Janney (The Roses), and Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
• English language 
• Runtime: 118 minutes

Why did it get this rating? 

This film was classified by Te Mana Whakaatu, Classification Office. You can find out more about classification process and ratings here.

Violence

There are many scenes of violence. Most are brief with little injury detail, for example people being shot from a distance and there is blood spray as people fall to the ground. Some of the strongest scenes include:

• A fight where people are stabbed and shot, necks are slashed, and a dog is killed. The dog is not shown being killed but its owner finds it with a bloody wound. The fight is at night, so the details are not clear and the blood looks black.
• A person lights a jug of strong alcohol on fire and throws it onto a man and a woman. They are engulfed in flames and roll on the floor. Later the woman is seen with burn marks on her face but otherwise appears fine.
• A fight in which a man is decapitated when he runs into an airplane propellor. His head flies off and hits the windshield.
• A large fight scene involving a gang of men, with throat-slitting, guns, crossbows, and many deaths. The scene is shown through night-vision glasses, so the details are not vivid.

Offensive language

Offensive language includes “f*ck", “motherf*cker”, “sh*t”, “dicking around”, and “*sshole”. The language is used as part of casual everyday language, as intensifiers, and for banter.

Content that may disturb 

A character talks about their plan for suiciding, and it appears they will go through with this, but they change their mind.

The film is set in a near-future dystopia, and this setting creates some disturbing moments. Some of the strongest of these include:

• A cult have a wall of bloodied passports, and a freezer full of body parts hanging in bags. They are not shown in detail but a head is clearly visible.
• There is a pile of decaying bodies outside a hospital. Birds peck at them. A dead body has no eyes, implied to have been eaten by birds.

Youth Advisory Panel member comments

One member of our Youth Advisory Panel attended the screening with Te Mana Whakaatu staff. They had the following thoughts: 

• The violent scenes were the most impactful, specifically the decapitation and the heads in plastic bags.
• The large fight scene shown in night vision had a reduced impact due to the change in colours, making it look like a video game 
• The suicide content was not strong and did not believe the man would actually die by suicide.
• They didn’t notice the offensive language as they thought it blended in with the world well. 

When content stays with you 

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.  

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information 

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?