The Last Duel is a 2021 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, based on the 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager. Set in medieval France, the film stars Damon as Jean de Carrouges, a knight who challenges his friend, squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) to a judicial duel after Jean's wife, Marguerite (Jodie Comer), accuses Jacques of raping her. The events leading up to the duel are divided into three chapters, reflecting the perspectives of the three main characters.
Ridley Scott has to be one of my favorite directors. He spends a lot of time making sure the action in his movies is very authentic and visceral. He does not disappoint in this movie, as you can feel the violence in every blow. One strong opinion I have about movies that involve serious topics like rape is that the visuals are not really needed to be shown as it kind of gets burned into your brain when you watch a violation like that, so that would have been the only thing I would have changed about this movie. It was not necessary to show that scene as visually as he chose to do. Otherwise, I thought it was cast well, although I thought that Ben Affleck should have stayed behind the scenes in this one, as he kind of sticks out as the only one that I did not believe in his role. High marks for the final battle. You just don't know how this one is going to end until the bitter end. Well done. Another great screenplay by the duo of Damon and Affleck. I think they should keep writing, as they are very good at it.
Ranking 7.5/10