Brad Pitt's Heart of the Beast Posts One of His Strongest Early Rotten Tomatoes Runs

Brad Pitt returns to theaters this week in Heart of the Beast, a lean survival story that has drawn an unusually warm first round of reviews. Directed by David Ayer from a screenplay by Cameron Alexander, the film follows retired Special Forces veteran James Belmont and his combat dog Odin after their plane goes down in remote Alaska. With no rescue in sight, the pair must cover about 58 miles of frozen ground, rivers, wildlife, and old combat wounds.

Paramount Pictures opens the movie nationwide on September 25, 2026. It premiered on September 16 in Franklin, Tennessee, and later screened at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The running time is 101 minutes. The rating is PG-13 for language, injury, and peril. J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe appear in supporting roles. The German shepherd Uber plays Odin.

Early Scores and What They Changed

The first batch of reviews arrived on September 22 and sent the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer near 96 percent on roughly two dozen notices. Several outlets called that figure Pitt’s highest mark in a lead role and Ayer’s best reviewed film, well above End of Watch at 85 percent. As more notices posted, the score moved to 91 percent from 44 critics. That is still a Fresh rating and a clear high point in Ayer’s career. For Pitt, it sits near the top of his later starring work, even if older titles such as Moneyball remain a few points higher.

The early spike mattered because Ayer’s recent studio films have often split critics. Heart of the Beast looks, on first evidence, like a tighter and more sincere piece than those earlier swings.

A Survival Story Built on Loyalty

Critics keep returning to the same idea. The movie is less a catalog of wilderness stunts than a portrait of two damaged partners who refuse to leave each other. Reviews from The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, and others describe the bond between Pitt and Uber as the engine of the film. Cinematographer Mauro Fiore’s New Zealand locations stand in for Alaska and give the trek a harsh, wide beauty. Some writers note familiar genre beats and a streak of sentiment. Most still credit the film for playing those notes with conviction rather than irony.

Pitt and Ayer last worked together on Fury in 2014. This reunion strips away tanks and platoons. The camera stays close to one man and one dog. That focus appears to be what reviewers are rewarding.

Opening Weekend Still Ahead

A Tomatometer in the low 90s does not guarantee a box office surge, and the score can still shift as more reviews land. It does, however, give Paramount a clean critical argument heading into Friday. Heart of the Beast is not selling itself as a puzzle or a prestige biopic. It is selling grit, weather, and the simple fact that a movie star and a very good dog can still hold a theater. For now, critics are meeting that pitch more than halfway.