Heart of the Beast

If it were possible to nominate an animal for an acting Oscar then look no further than the German Shepherd at the heart of Heart of the Beast.

A man and his dog survival mission, this film depicts one hell of a brutal journey as a retired special forces soldier suffers a heart attack whilst flying back from a camping trip in the Alaskan wilderness.

56 miles of arduous terrain, wolves, bears, white water rapids and variable weather then separates the pair from civilisation.

It’s quite the journey, with some cracking set pieces and it’s also shot beautifully with some absolutely stunning locations (although the few uses of CGI are shockingly creaky.)

Brad Pitt absolutely anchors proceedings in the lead role and he is more than ably supported by the aforementioned very good dog.

There are some beautifully tender moments between the two and it will certainly move any animal lovers.

It’s a thoroughly entertaining film and will keep you rooting for the pair through their trials and tribulations. Perhaps not leaving huge replay value as a film but it’s lean, succinct, meditative at points and is pretty much the maximum of what you can and would expect it to be.

It’s probably cruel to say that it’s a less arty version of The Revenant (a comparison that only tentatively works) but if you like any sort of ‘survival’ media, films showing very capable individuals in very tough circumstances or cute dogs then this is a worthy cinematic experience.

⭐️⭐️⭐️