The Revenant film review: why you NEED to see this 12-time Oscar-nominated film

With 12 - count 'em - Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Supporting Actor for Tom Hardy, The Revenant is one of the biggest films of the year.

Here, heat's very own Charles Gant gives his review.

The Revenant

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domnhall Gleeson, Will Poulter

Director: Alejandro G Iñárritu (CERT 15, 156 minutes)

The plot: Leo DiCaprio has been nominated for an acting Oscar four times before and never won. Can he make it fifth time lucky with this sweeping drama about a fur trappers’ scout in the 1820s Wild West, who is left for dead by his clients after being savaged by a bear? Determined to hunt down the man (Tom Hardy) who committed a bloody betrayal, frontiersman Glass (DiCaprio) must overcome thirst, hunger, freezing temperatures and horrific injury in his epic quest.

What's right with it? Rare is a film that combines spectacular visuals with genuinely gripping human drama, but this wildly ambitious survival tale from Birdman Oscar winner Alejandro G Iñárritu succeeds on both counts as Glass closes in on his man. DiCaprio, alone for swathes of the running time, commands with sheer screen presence, while Britain’s Will Poulter, playing the morally conflicted youngest member of the trapping expedition, provides a vital emotional access point.

What’s wrong with it? While The Revenant is undoubtedly an exercise in endurance for its characters – and, reportedly, for the cast and crew – some audience members will feel they’ve similarly been put through the wringer. Sample scene: Glass dismembers a horse, then crawls inside the carcase for warmth.

Verdict: The inclusion of at least one amazing, talking-point scene (the bear attack) should help overcome audience caution for what is, admittedly, a tough-sounding watch. Let’s hope so, because this tale of stamina and fortitude is simply phenomenal.

FIVE STARS

The Revenant is out in UK cinemas from Friday 15 January

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