«Heart of the Beast»: Brad Pitt, his dog, and an Alaska that wants to kill them.

James Belmont (Brad Pitt) is a former special forces fighter. Together with the shepherd Odin, he returned from the war, where both received their wounds. Not bodily, but those in the head. PTSD. The silence that they both try to fill in their secluded cabin somewhere in Alaska.

And then James gets into a small plane and begins his flight, but he has a heart attack. The plane falls, and here they are: a man and a dog find themselves in the middle of a snowy desert, where the only thing that awaits them is cold, hunger and animals that do not mind a snack. The plot is simple, but this is the highlight of the film.

Brad Pitt plays restrained, almost without words, and this is one of his best works in recent years. But a dog nicknamed Uber (the real name of the actor's shepherd dog) steals the film right from under the nose of a star of this magnitude.

Director David Eyre (he made "Training Day" and "Rage") here is unexpectedly restrained. No unnecessary pathos, no patriotic speeches. Just survival, just cold, just fear. And it works better than any special effects or action scenes.

The main problem is that the movie repeats itself, James and Odin get into danger, get out, and then get in again, get out again, and so almost the entire timeline. Some will find it stressful, some will find it monotonous.

Critics are divided: Some say it's a touching story about the bond between a man and a dog. Other critics are convinced that it is predictable and not very deep. Both of them are right.

Heart of the Beast is a solid, well-made survival thriller. It does not claim the depth of "The Legend of Hugh Glass" or "On the Edge", but the film honestly does its job: keeps you in suspense, makes you feel and gives you the opportunity to see Brad Pitt in one of the most restrained and human roles.