The Last Duel (2021)

Do not believe the hype about this box office bomb. I was expecting more of the turgid, awful Kingdom of Heaven style Ridley Scott than Gladiator Ridley Scott - yet this is his most complex, ambitious and challenging film of his career. Of course it tanked - it's closer in tone to an art-house medieval flick like this year's The Green Knight than something rousing and dynamic like Gladiator. A timely, adult and provoking film bolstered by it's three act play - the same story from each of an excellent Matt Damon's, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer's differing perspectives, taking a sobering look at consent, pulling no punches or offering easy answers. The cherry on top of one of the most under appreciated films of the year is it's near verbatim recite of a ridiculously improbable, yet fully documented 700 year old true story.