‘A Dog’s Way Home’ is a sweet, simple family film

A Dog ’s Way Home is a 2019 American family adventure film directed by Charles Martin Smith and written by W. Bruce Cameron and Cathryn Michon, based on the book by Cameron. The film stars Ashley Judd, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, Wes Studi, Chris Bauer, Barry Watson, and Jonah Hauer-King, and follows a dog named Bella (voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard) who travels more than 400 miles to find her owner.

It was released in the United States on January 11, 2019, received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed over $46 million. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 58 reviews with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website’s critical consensus reads “A Dog’s Way Home may not quite be a family-friendly animal drama fan’s best friend, but this canine adventure is no less heartwarming for its familiarity.”

On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A–” on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.