Once upon a time in America the land was filled with stories of larger than life fur trappers and Native American fighters who roamed the dangerous territories of the western United States. Progress and political accuracy has seen a significant decline in these businesses since the early 1800s, but the stories that sprung from that time remain today. One of these stories is that of Hugh Glass, which has inspired the new film: “The Revenant”.

“The Revenant” follows Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) in his epic struggle to survive through the frozen forests of Missouri. Survival is not his only goal on this frozen rodeo. John Fitzgerald, (Tom Hardy) the man that killed Glass’ Mestizo son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) is still at large and Glass is after his head. After Glass and his fur trapping crew narrowly escape an assailing group of Native Americans, the captain of the expedition, Andrew Henry (Domnhall Gleeson), turns to Glass to get them out of the woods. Glass’ usefulness comes to an end when he finds himself toe- to-toe with a grizzly bear, an encounter that leaves him seriously wounded. The trappers attempt to keep him alive and carry him home, but the burden begins to overcome them. He is left for dead in the snow and this is where his story begins.

“The Revenant” is a fantastic film. It falls somewhere between a historical thriller and awe-striking work of art. The film’s cinematography is so outrageously beautiful that it causes me to feel bad for ever saying the same thing about another film. I can’t accurately express just how good it is. I could pause the movie at any time, take a screenshot, bring it to a photography festival, set it on display and it would win an award. Hands down. (Not that I or you should do that, that would be illegal.) The setting of the film definitely lends itself to this sort of quality with its gorgeous mountaintops, forests and waterfalls.

The soundtrack is minimalistic, and this adds to the feeling of isolation and recurring cold that have deep roots in self discovery and survival. In some moments it feels like a gritty thriller with edge-of-the-seat action and at others it is this strangely pleasant exploration of Glass’ mind.  Each of these moments in the film are accompanied by terrifyingly ominous drums or distant and almost spiritual sounding string progressions, respectively.

“The Revenant” also brings a dangerous amount of tense and dramatic sequences to the table. It’s been a long time since I was this invested in characters. Watching it in the theatre was nerve-racking, I would find myself gripping the chair or pushing against the floor whilst gritting my teeth in high-strung anticipation. Perhaps the last time I felt this was when I saw “Cloud Atlas” (2012).

There are two scenes that really exemplify this thrill and they sit at polar opposite sides of each other in terms of the film’s timeline. The first scene in the film depicts the trappers trying to outrun an attack from a Native American tribe called the Arikara. As the men try their darndest to reach the boats and float down the river, they must also try and repel attacks long enough to succeed. The camera motions follow characters as they run as opposed to usual hard-cuts which gives this scene a moving feeling. Starting the movie off like this was a good choice and sucked me into Glass’ world faster than any expository dialogue driven sequence could. The other tense scene is by far more gruesome and intimate, and it is the final confrontation that leads to the resolution. For the sake of spoiler-free reviews and good storytelling I won’t go into detail on that encounter—but it is nail biting, to say the least.

Despite its grit, “The Revenant” rarely lacks it’s shine. The most obvious example of this is through the CGI that is featured. Some instances have very realistic animating done, which is the case for the bear attack early in the film.  Later on, however scenes with CGI, which is a slim number by the way, begin to look just a little off.  The animations move smooth and how I would expect the animals to move, but they look out of place.  They don’t look real. When there are films like Jurassic World and even Transformers that have made CGI look fitting and right, it was a little bit of a let down.  The scenes with CGI are sparse enough that it never poses a large issue and the movie relies more heavily on natural beauty.

Although not a con it is important to note that this film is not for everybody. It is dark, grotesque and perhaps the grittiest film I have seen to date.  The struggle for life from a man who has essentially died is not a good story because it is fun to watch but rather the opposite. It’s hard to watch sometimes and for some reason things like this appeal to the human psyche. It’s not just Glass’ story though. Watching the Arikara conquest across what was once their land can be difficult to think about as well. The land encroachment that helped make the United States what it is today was, although important, not our best moment in history and this shows.  Throughout all this blood, killing and harrowing survival, the beauty of nature remains ever-present. It’s sad to know that the soft pale snow is so easy to cover with blood.

The Revenant has a runtime of 156 minutes and is rated R. It is currently showing at R/C Kill Devil Hills Movies 10.