Set in a dystopian future Japan in which dogs have been quarantined on the remote eponymous island due to a "canine flu", Isle of Dogs follows five local dogs—Chief, Rex, Boss, Duke, and King. They are fed up with their isolated existence until a boy named Atari Kobayashi ventures to the island to search for his dog, Spots. Atari receives their help and protection from the Japanese authorities who have come to retrieve him.