A Dog’s Journey, the Heartwarming Movie for Dog Lovers

By Miya Gonzalez 

March 7, 2024
Photo credit: Junkee

A Dog's Journey is a movie about a dog named Bailey who begins his journey as a big fluffy St. Bernard. He lives on a farm with his owners, Ethan and Hannah. They have a granddaughter named CJ who Bailey looks after. Bailey is very loyal and protective of his family. One day, CJ’s mother takes her away from her grandparents. As Bailey’s life comes to an end, Ethan asks him to come back and always protect CJ and make her happy like he did for Ethan. Bailey next comes back as a beagle named Molly and sets out on a mission to find and reunite with CJ. On Bailey's journey, he has multiple lives as different dogs and always comes back with a sense of finding CJ until eventually he ultimately reunites with CJ as Max, a Yorkshire terrier, and achieves his goal to keep her safe and make her happy. This movie shows an unbreakable bond between humans and dogs and it captures the passion and love that dogs bring to your life. This is a heartfelt story and very enjoyable to watch.

A Dog's Journey is a sequel to A Dog’s Purpose. The movies are based on a series of books written by Bruce Cameron. A Dog's Journey can stand alone as its own story and you don't need to have watched the first movie to enjoy the second. The movies also have added parts that weren't in the books that help complete the story. This movie can get sad at times because Bailey’s life ends multiple times but he comes back as a puppy in a different body each time trying to fulfill his promise he made to Ethan that he would bring CJ home. The actors' performances of the main characters are believable and make you want for things to all work out for a happy ending.

The voice of the dogs is played by actor Josh Gad and he makes the characters come to life with his sense of humor making him very likable and adding lots of emotion. CJ is played by actress Kathryn Prescott and she is shown as a teenage girl who experiences many struggles in her life which she has to overcome. One way she deals with her troubles is she gets into playing guitar. I like how the movie shows a typical teenager finding a passion and learning how to express it. I think Kathryn does a good job at portraying a teenager making the story relatable and believable. I highly recommend watching this family friendly movie. It is a very comforting story about companionship and it will make you feel happy.