A Boy and His Dog

In a post-apocalyptic America of 2024, eighteen-year-old Vic roams the wasteland with Blood, a dog with whom he communicates telepathically. The two scavenge for food and shelter in a barren landscape, avoiding gangs of cutthroats. Their routine is interrupted when Vic meets a woman named Quilla June Holmes, who draws him away from the surface and into an underground community. There, a society living beneath the earth has preserved the structures of the old world, and its people have their own reasons for wanting a young man from above.

The film was directed by L.Q. Jones, who also wrote the screenplay and produced it with Alvy Moore. Jones came to the project after a long career as a character actor, and A Boy and His Dog was an early point in his work as a director, arriving before his later features. Don Johnson plays Vic, Susanne Benton plays Quilla June Holmes, and Jason Robards appears as Lou Craddock, with Tim McIntire providing the voice of Blood.

Made for a modest budget, the film took in about 7 million dollars worldwide, a solid return for its scale. On IMDb it holds a 6.4 rating from roughly 21,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.3 from around 400 votes. A critics' score of 6.8 from 36 reviews places it somewhat above those audience figures.