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Dubai: We have had Nolan’s Odyssey this year. We have had Spider-Man. Calling Heart of the Beast the best film of the year is a stretch, and I know it.
I am saying it anyway.
David Ayer’s survival thriller is, at its core, Brad Pitt and his dog in the wilderness for 101 minutes. That is the whole film. And I loved every second of it.
What it’s about
Pitt plays James Belmont, a former US Army Special Forces officer living alone in the wilderness and working as a bush pilot. His only real company is Odin, his retired combat dog, a German Shepherd carrying his own war injuries: titanium teeth and a prosthetic leg.
When their plane goes down, the two of them are left alone in the Alaskan wilderness, with no rescue coming and no one around. What follows is a fight to stay alive, and to keep each other alive.
There is no big twist. There is no third-act villain. There is just weather, distance, exhaustion, and two creatures who refuse to leave the other behind.
The dog is the star
Pitt is very good in this. He carries long stretches of screen time with almost no dialogue and no one to act against, and it works.
But Odin steals it. The dog is played by a New Zealand German Shepherd called Uber, with UPI reporting that four dogs shared the role across the shoot, and the performance is remarkable. The whines, the barks, the moments of guarding Belmont while he sleeps: none of it feels trained. It feels like a relationship.
In my opinion it is the most affecting piece of canine acting since Old Yeller and Lassie Come Home and the movie Bolt. The film sits at 94 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ayer has said something similar about why he made it. Reading the script, he told GQ, made him cry, and he described the two as co-equals rather than a man and his pet. That is exactly how it plays.
Bring tissues, seriously
This is a tearjerker, and it does not pretend otherwise.
I cried. The people around me cried. Even the most stoic looking men did, and I think that undersells how universal the movie is. If you have ever loved an animal, this film knows exactly where to press.
It is not flawless. The plot is predictable in places, however, it still blows you away. Ayer is not reinventing the survival genre here, and the beats land more or less where you expect them to.
The film is at its best when it is at its simplest, which is two characters worrying about each other in the snow.
It made me want to rescue a dog
The thing I did not expect was how I felt walking out.
I did not just want to hug a dog. I wanted to go and get one. Specifically, I wanted to rescue one. There is something in the way the film treats Odin, as a whole character with his own injuries, fears and stubbornness, that makes you think about all the animals sitting in shelters waiting for someone.
If the UAE’s rescue shelters see a bump in adoption enquiries over the next few weeks, I know exactly why.
Should you watch it?
If you have a dog, or you have ever had one, yes. If you like animals at all, yes.
If you want a tightly plotted thriller with surprises, this is probably not your film. It is a slow, sincere, emotional watch about loyalty. That is the whole pitch, and it earns it.
Spoiler section: read on only if you want reassurance
I am putting this at the end on purpose, because I know it is the only question some of you actually want answered before buying a ticket.
The dog does not die.
Ayer confirmed it himself before release, telling one outlet plainly that the dog lives. You need to bring tissues, but Odin makes it to the end credits.
You will still cry. You will just not cry about that.
