The Last Duel Movie Review

If you love unreliable narrators, true stories, and the medieval time period, The Last Duel is a movie that you should definitely add to your list.

Armored with a top-notch cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Adam Driver, this movie is packed with high-quality acting and a storyline that will keep you guessing. Based on a true story, it follows two friends (played by Matt Damon and Adam Driver) who are torn apart by rivalry. The heart of the movie rests on a disturbing accusation that Adam Driver's character raped Matt Damon's character's wife. Of course, as the title suggests, it is determined the matter will be settled by a duel.

At first, I deemed this movie to skip around too much. The viewer is left in a dizzying state of lacking orientation as the story skips from event to event without any smooth progression. We first follow Jean De Carrouge's story (Matt Damon) and his account of events. The story is engaging but it is jilting because of the time and place jumps. However, we are treated to a story of chivalry, courage, and perseverance, all things that make the main character admirable despite some shortcomings.

Here's my favorite part of the movie, though; after we get Jean De Carrouge's story, the movie essentially starts over, this time from Jacques Le Gris's perspective (Adam Driver). This seems like it would be dull, but the movie is so well-written that it isn't. The new perspective we get shows us the same main events but with different additions due to the new narrator. We get new details that potentially change our mind and view of the other characters.

And finally, we get a third perspective: Marguerite De Carrouge. Again, this retelling of events gives us a new way of looking at what we thought previously.

This is a movie that constantly will make you think and question. It's a movie about how we perceive reality and who the real villain is. I love anything with an unreliable narrator, but this flipped that concept on its head by giving us three different narrators. I loved how small perspective changes flipped my ideas over and over again.

I did find the ending slightly lacking only because I wanted more. However, this is a movie that is expertly done with a star cast. I loved that it told a true story in an engaging way. I also loved that at the heart of the movie is a powerful and jarring message about reality, about women, and about who is left to tell the truth.

I highly recommend this movie, especially for date night, as I think its engaging construct will captivate a wide array of audiences. It will stand out in my mind as a very unique movie of which I have never seen anything similar.