The Revenant

There is something gloriously brutal about this film - not in an especially violent, nor gory manner - but just in the combination of the best and worst of human traits (resilience, determination, betrayal, desertion, lust etc.) coupled with a truly magnificent depiction of the harshness of a wild Missouri winter. Leonardo DiCaprio is "Glass", who when out hunting with his team is savagely attacked by a bear. He is then for dead by his colleagues. To stay alive, he must use his innate skills to survive the environment and the hostile natives to get back to civilisation - all fuelled by his overwhelming desire for revenge on those who abandoned him to the elements. Iñárritu directs this adventure with considerable skill; you are immersed into the struggle "Glass" has for his very life and then into his vengeful hunt for Tom Hardy "Fitzgerald" whom he blames for his predicament. It may be that the director is trying to draw parallels between man's treatment of each other and of their treatment of nature - and of how there is little difference in the consideration afforded to either; but that's tangential in my view. This is an hugely enjoyable, character-driven, gritty film that builds slowly and relentlessly to a fitting denouement and left me looking for a cardigan.