A Dog's Journey is the sequel to A Dog's Purpose, and if you've seen that one, you know exactly what you're getting: a dog dies, comes back, dies again, rinses and repeats while tugging every heartstring in your body. Critics were lukewarm (53% RT) because it's formulaic and leans hard into sentimentality, but audiences ate it up (91% RT, 7.4 IMDb) because sometimes you just want a good cry.

The themes are solid—loyalty, unconditional love, finding purpose through helping others—and it genuinely opens doors for conversations about death, grief, and what makes life meaningful. But let's be real: this movie is emotional manipulation in the best/worst way. It's engineered to wreck you, and it will succeed.

If your kid can handle the repeated cycle of dog deaths (it's the whole premise, so no surprises there) and you're okay with some heavy family drama, this is a decent family watch for ages 10+. Just stock up on tissues and maybe don't watch it right after losing a pet. For dog-loving families who want to ugly-cry together, this delivers. For everyone else, it's a bit too saccharine and predictable to fully recommend.