Hulu rarely has a bad month for movie lovers, and April had a particularly strong lineup of films.
One of the new additions this month is The Revenant, an epic Western that will celebrate its tenth anniversary early next year.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy starred in the film, which was inspired by the account of Hugh Glass, a fur trapper who was mauled by a bear and left for dead in 1823.
The Revenant was widely acclaimed upon its release, and it earned Alejandro G. Iñárritu his second Best Director Oscar in a row, following his previous win for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).
Now that The Revenant is back on this streaming service, it’s Watch With Us’ pick for the one Hulu movie that you have to watch in April.
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Leonardo DiCaprio Gives a Legendary Performance
Over the last three decades, DiCaprio has been Oscar-nominated for Best Actor five times. The Revenant is the film that finally allowed DiCaprio to win the coveted Academy Award for his committed performance as Hugh Glass.
DiCaprio spends long stretches of time by himself in the film as Glass battles for his life and attempts to survive the harsh conditions of the wild. The actor has said that conditions were very brutal while filming The Revenant, and he literally suffers for his art on screen.
If he looks like he’s in agony, it’s probably because he is. But DiCaprio brings more to the role than just his ability to convey Glass’ pain. His character is a man who survives the unimaginable in part because he won’t be denied his chance for revenge.
Tom Hardy Is a Fantastic Amoral Villain
As portrayed by Hardy, John S. Fitzgerald isn’t necessarily an evil man. But he does evil things that are in his own self-interest, including leaving Glass for dead and murdering his son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), for daring to protect his father.
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In a way, the audience is complicit with Glass’ desire for revenge because Fitzgerald is simply a despicable man who easily lies to cover up his crimes. He’s such a duplicitous snake that it’s almost impossible not to watch him without hoping to see Fitzgerald get what’s coming to him.
The Bear Attack Is Very Convincing
Early in the film, Glass has a near-fatal encounter with a grizzly bear that is the most terrifying sequence in the film. It may be a CGI creation, but that vicious creature is relentless, and it even comes back for more after Glass’ initial mauling.
The sequence goes on long enough to become uncomfortable to watch, but it captures the power of that assault and plays as if it were real. Few computer-generated monsters have ever been as scary as the bear is in that scene.
The Film Is Visually Stunning
Iñárritu was committed to shooting The Revenant on location with natural lighting, and that approach went a long way towards making the time and the setting feel authentic. Filming took place in Canada, Montana and even Argentina. The beautiful locations chosen for the movie truly felt timeless.
Not every period film project has the same dedication to capturing real-life places that this one did. That’s one of the reasons why this is a modern classic a decade after its release.
The Revenant is streaming on Hulu.
