The Last Duel – Film Review

Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) is a respected knight known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) is a squire whose intelligence and eloquence makes him one of the most admired nobles in court. When Le Gris viciously assaults Carrouges’ wife Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), she steps forward to accuse her attacker, an act of bravery and defiance that puts her life in jeopardy. The ensuing trial by combat, a grueling duel to the death, places the fate of all three in God’s hands.

If you have been following my website and reviews for a long time now, you probably know that I practically live at the movie theatre. It’s honestly like my second home. On a typical week, I usually go to my local theatre about three times in order to watch all the new releases and write reviews for them for you folks to read. Because I’m at the theatre a ton, I watch a lot of trailers. And I mean a lot of them.

But surprisingly, I have never seen a trailer for Ridley Scott‘s brand new epic historical drama film The Last Duel, despite the fact that, well, it’s a new Ridley Scott film, and the fact that it stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer, and Adam Driver just to name a few. However, I’m honestly glad that I didn’t get to see a trailer for this film beforehand because for one, trailers these days tend to spoil way too much about the film, typically showcasing all the best parts in the trailer just to ensure that audiences will actually go to the theatre.

And the second reason why I’m glad I never saw a trailer for The Last Duel is because it blew me away in every sense of the word. If his other films didn’t already solidify it, then The Last Duel is just further proof that nobody is making movies like Scott. All of his films have a very old-school kind of feel to them, and I mean that in a good way. If a different director were to helm this project, it wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

Whenever you place Scott behind the director’s chair and when he shows that he is passionate about something, the end result is almost always going to be terrific, and The Last Duel is certainly no exception. Some will inevitably be a little on-edge about the film’s two-and-a-half-hour running time, and I don’t blame you. Before I saw the movie, I was a little bit worried as well. After all, how can you make a film about one topic interesting enough to grab your attention for that long and never let go?

But against all odds, screenwriters Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener did exactly that. It’s genuinely remarkable how well-written this script is. You may have a good understanding of where the story is going at one second, only for things to be completely flipped upside down the very next. The Last Duel is truly a film that will keep you glued to the screen for all one-hundred and fifty-three seconds.

And don’t even get me started on the performances here. They are all top-of-the-line and many of the actors here deliver the best performances they have delivered in years. I’ve always loved Matt Damon, especially in Good Will Hunting. He has so much range and can really act like nobody else if he works with a script that does his acting justice. Here, in the role of Jean de Carrouges, Damon excels. Never once did I see Damon portraying a character, I only ever saw Jean de Carrouges. He disappears in the role and so does Ben Affleck as Count Pierre d’Alençon, even with that strange blonde wig.

Adam Driver has always been known – to me at least – as Kylo Ren from the Star Wars sequel trilogy, but he delivers his best performance yet as Jacques Le Gris in The Last Duel. His character is one that is very mysterious for most of the film, and for all the scenes where Driver has to do a lot, he makes it look easy. Jacques is an incredibly uncomfortable character to watch, and Driver rises to the occasion.

Easily my favorite performance here, however, is Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges, a woman who goes through hell and back essentially. Watching her story unfold in front of me was legitimately heartbreaking and I felt terrible for her character in every single scene. Comer is one of the best actresses of our generation, and she proves just why she is a force to be reckoned with in this film.

There honestly isn’t anything I can say I disliked about Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel. It’s a seriously shocking and incredibly uncomfortable watch but every single scene gets more intense than the last, building up to a finale that had my heart beating rapidly through my chest. Watching The Last Duel reminded me why I fell in love with movies in the first place. If a movie is really, really good, it will make a lasting impression on you. I know wholeheartedly that I will never forget this film.