Heart of the Beast is at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics keep saying the real star isn't Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt spent months in the New Zealand cold, shot a survival movie with his Fury director, and got the best reviews of that director's career. The critics' thank-you notes, however, keep going to someone who eats boiled chicken.
Heart of the Beast opens in theaters Friday, September 25, and as of Thursday evening it sits at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes from 61 reviews. The Paramount survival thriller strands Brad Pitt's retired Special Forces officer James Belmont in the Alaskan wilderness after his seaplane goes down, with only his military working dog, Odin, for company.
That number is a first for its director. David Ayer has made eleven features, and his previous best on the site was End of Watch at 85%. His résumé also includes Suicide Squad (26%), Bright (26%) and The Tax Collector (17%). Critics have finally come around to him, just not for the reason you might expect.
The dog gets the notices
"There's no denying that the star of the movie is indeed Odin," Katie Walsh wrote in her Los Angeles Times review, which is otherwise lukewarm on the film and calls it "Homeward Bound for adults." In her view the dogs "may even eclipse Pitt for sheer screen presence." The Times headline puts it more bluntly: the dog steals the movie, and Pitt's charm is kept on a leash.
Plural dogs, because Odin is four German Shepherds. Ayer told The Credits that the lead, Uber, shared the role with three of his own sons, each trained for a different job:
- Uber — the lead, found in New Zealand by trainer Andrew Simpson, who held auditions on both islands and, per Ayer, "even went knocking on doors." Uber was a working search-and-rescue dog before this, used to riding in helicopters.
- Seeka, Ryker and Hondo — named in the LA Times review. According to Ayer, the sons covered heights on wires, swimming and running, because Uber is "a little bit older" and needed stunt doubles.
- The makeup chair — each dog got hair and makeup, Odin's scars and a wardrobe, plus a sound pack like any other actor. On screen Odin is a war veteran with titanium teeth and a prosthetic foot.
Brad Pitt's co-star needed three stunt doubles. Brad Pitt did not get a day off.
Pitt, in the meantime
Ayer says Pitt "really carried the film in a way I think neither of us expected," shooting cold and wet for months in Queenstown, New Zealand, which stood in for Alaska. The two first worked together on Fury in 2014. His secret weapon with the dogs was boiled chicken. "I don't know if Brad can even handle the smell of it at this point," Ayer said. "During the shoot, his pockets were full of it."
"I'm not a crier. That was a first. And only." — David Ayer on reading Cameron Alexander's script
The script is also a debut for screenwriter Cameron Alexander. Ayer says it made him cry for the first time in his life, and that Pitt "admitted to some crying" too.
Now for the box office. Boxoffice Pro's long-range forecast has the film opening to $15 million–$25 million against A24's Primetime with Robert Pattinson. Pitt's F1 opened to $57 million in June 2025, so four German Shepherds have a lot of ground to cover.
Previously we wrote: Billie Lourd's kids are getting to know Carrie Fisher through Star Wars — in one scene, Leia is actually their mom
