The Last Duel on Disney Plus is one of the most interesting movies I've seen this year and, for March 2022, it is my top recommendation for anyone looking to watch a thought provoking historical action drama.
The pitch is a knight of medieval France challenges his former friend to a duel to the death after his wife accuses the former friend of viciously assaulting her while he was away crusading. Surrounding this central story, which is based on real life events, there are battles, politics and historically accurate religious practices and beliefs, so you get a good sense for the 14th century setting.
How this story is told, though, is what makes the movie a must watch, as it tells the same horrific story from three different perspectives in flashback form, from the perspective of both knights involved and, finally and most importantly, that of the assault victim Marguerite.
As such, you get many of the same events told three times in this movie, and it is very thought provoking to see how the depiction of what actually took place in the build up to the duel differs from each person's perspective. Crucially, the film is absolutely clear that that assault took place and was devastating for Marguerite – what changes in each telling is how the characters see themselves and each other, with seemingly throwaway actions in one scene becoming a huge deal from someone else's view, or heroic acts suddenly seeming self-serving.
For very obvious reasons this movie, which is directed by Ridley Scott, is rated as mature/18+, both due to the horrific assault and the copious amounts of extreme violent combat you get in it, with both the duel itself as well as depictions of full-scale battles taken to an extreme level of brutality.
There's plenty of star power, too, with the two knights played by Matt Damon and Adam Driver, and the knight's wife Marguerite, by Killing Eve star Jodie Comer.
The Last Duel can be found right now in the Star library of Disney Plus, and can be streamed in its entirety of 2 hours 20 minutes right now. It's obviously not a light or easy movie to watch, but it is moving, well acted and thought provoking none the less.
