Dour and brutal, The Last Duel is a combatative medieval tale of a woman’s quest to gain justice.
Raped in her own home, Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer – Free Guy, TV’s Killing Eve) is forced to appeal to her husband, the dull Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon – The Martian, Invictus) – as his property, it is he who loses face. Carrouges appeals to the young King Charles VI – who determines a duel to the death should be fought between Carrouges and the accused, once best friend Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver – Paterson, Marriage Story).
Three separate versions unfold in director Ridley Scott’s (Alien, American Gangster) respectful telling of a true story adapted for the screen by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Gone Girl) along with Nicole Holofcener. Yet, grim and gruesome but with unreliable narrators, The Last Duel for all its bloody battle scenes sits in the genre of soap opera melodrama.
Rating: 62%
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