The Last Duel | Film Review

 

I have been meaning to watch this film for so long, but I've been putting it off. Not only is it quite a long film, but this isn't a genre that I particularly enjoy, so I wanted to be sure that I was completely in the mood to watch it.

When Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) is attacked by Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), she chooses to name her attacker in an act of bravery, which causes Le Gris and Marguerite's husband Jean (Matt Damon) to engage in a duel to the death.

I liked this film more than I thought I would. 

Despite not loving the genre itself, I found the film quite compelling and became captivated by the story.

The story, and the characters themselves, are really well-written. 

All of the actors in the film are amazing, but Jodie Comer is a standout and completely steals the film from her co-stars.

This is a long-ish film of 2 and a half hours, and there were parts that felt unnecessarily dragged out, to the point where the film actually felt longer than it was. It also felt like it took a long time to get to the parts that the audience actually wanted to see.

I enjoyed seeing the story from the three perspectives that are focused on. I think that was a good way to tell the story, and it allowed us to get to know the three main characters on a more intimate level.

Ironically, I felt that the duel, which takes place at the end of the film, is actually one of the least interesting parts of this story.

And after watching the film, it didn't feel particularly impactful to me. I didn't think about it after the credits rolled, and it didn't really evoke any emotions from me.

Overall, this was an interesting film, well-written and shot, with some great performances. It's definitely worth watching, though the runtime and subject matter may put some off.

6/10