Heart of the Beast (2026) - Spoiler Free Review

Film Details

Director: David Ayer

Run Time:

Cast: Brad Pitt, JK Simmons, Anne Lambe, Uber the Dog

Synopsis

After an unexpected plane crash over the Alaskan wilderness, a special operations army veteran and his combat dog face an uphill battle to make it out alive.

My Review

Heart of The Beast isn’t just your normal run of the mill Man vs Nature survival film, it’s a story built on the foundations of friendship and brotherhood, except this story is between man and man’s best friend. I’ll just go ahead and say it, Odin might be the best dog to ever grace a cinema screen and if the adorable animal was used as the tool to tug on our heartstrings, then consider me low hanging fruit because I absolutely ate it up! 

The film is set in the Alaskan wilderness but it was actually filmed in the New Zealand South Islands, but boy is it an absolutely beautiful setting. Those of you who have followed me for a while now may know that a woodland aesthetic such as this is one of my absolute favourites and I loved every minute of those scenic shots. Brad Pitt is of course brilliant, he is pretty much the only human actor for 90% of the film and carries that responsibility brilliantly. But JK Simmons also illustrates what is possible with just a short cameo appearance, dropping in, leaving his mark with a great performance and making a sharp exit. Yes the plot is simple and perhaps a little predictable at times, but the bold ending trumps all of those expected plot beats and drops an emotional nuke that had my screening in tears! This is Ayer’s best film since Fury and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10

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