O
ne of the most brutally authentic movies that I’ve ever seen, “The Revenant” is pure cinema and should be seen by everyone who enjoys a captivating movie.

The plot follows Hugh Glass (played by the illustrious Leonardo Dicaprio), who is a member of a hunting party that travels through the unsettled wilderness of the Louisiana Purchase for pelts. After the group is attacked by a group of hostile Arikara Indians, the hunters struggle to continue their escape from the party.

The film’s plot is truly set in motion when Glass is savagely mauled by an enraged grizzly and left with near-fatal wounds. Due to his injuries, Glass is left unable to continue the trek to safety with his group. After fierce contention, John Fitzgerald (played by Tom Hardy), a feral individual of the crew, decides to end Glass’s life to allow the group to continue their travel.

The raw, intense acting of Leonardo Dicaprio that moviegoers have all come to know so well is put on full display as the film takes viewers on an immersive adventure alongside the man himself.

On the big screen, Dicaprio is more believable than ever as he is put through the absolute hell of losing his only surviving son, traveling through brutally wintry conditions and persevering through unthinkable situations.

Dicaprio simply never disappoints.

With a performance equally as captivating is Tom Hardy’s. In the movie, Hardy utterly vanishes into his role, completely encompassing all the aspects of his self-justifying brute of a character, John Fitzgerald.

Spectacular actors aside, the film would not have been possible without the works of an incredible crew behind the camera.

The extremely well constructed plot of “The Revenant” owns large part to the renowned director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and the fluid camera work of Emmanuel Lubezki, both of whom have won Oscars.

Iñárritu and Lubezki show the world once again of just how good they truly are at their respective jobs through their masterpiece of “The Revenant.”

As the film proceeds into the second hour, a grief-stricken and vengeance-filled Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down John Fitzgerald. Dispersed with gorgeous shots of Glass’s surrounding, and fueled with Glass’s pursuit of survival, “The Revenant”  advances nonstop until the very end.

Comprehensively, the film shows the realistic journey of an unrelenting hunter in the 1800s, but moreover, it depicts the transcendence of the human spirit through unthinkable times.

Be warned, however, as the lengthy span of the movie — over two hours — can be exhausting. It is the stretched out grittiness of the movie however, that makes the film such an epic immersion. To me, the “The Revenant” is much more than just a common cinematic piece, rather, it is a full on experience that is equal parts grueling as it is stunning.

The film is definitely worth seeing as the riveting journey Iñárritu takes viewers through is quite something.  

Unless you’re a Star Wars fan, “The Revenant” should be, without a doubt, the one movie that you watch this year.