‘F1’ review: Brad Pitt takes the wheel in Joseph Kosinski’s immersive racing drama

Dir: Joseph Kosinski. US. 2025. 156mins

Scintillating on the monitor however not as agile away from the races, F1 is an exhilarating sports activities movie prone to each cliché of its style, assured that its professional setpieces will outrun all that’s in any other case spinoff about this underdog story. Brad Pitt leans on his movie-star charisma, taking part in a stereotypically over-the-hill driver who will get one final shot at glory, injecting his one-dimensional character with soul and a weathered grin. And High Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski does for vehicles what he beforehand did for fighter jets, reworking them into balletic machines that fly by the body with unstoppable propulsion.

Race sequences are masterfully staged

Scheduled for launch on June 25 within the UK and June 27 within the US, this crowdpleaser hopes to draw Formulation One followers, who must be knocked out by the immersive racing scenes. Pitt will probably be a draw as nicely however, as a result of F1 might enchantment to older grownup audiences, word-of-mouth and powerful critiques will probably be essential to make sure the image has sufficient gasoline within the tank commercially. Warner Bros will deal with the theatrical rollout, with the movie finally touchdown on Apple TV+.

It has been greater than 30 years since Sonny Hayes (Pitt) walked away from Formulation One after a near-fatal accident, his promising profession derailed as he succumbed to playing dependancy and a collection of ill-fated marriages. Now joyful to drive in any occasion that may have him, Hayes is shocked to be approached by his previous pal Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), who runs a flailing Formulation One crew. Cervantes desires Hayes to mentor his hot-shot younger driver Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who resents being lectured by somebody he considers a has-been.

F1 hardly hides its formulaic narrative. Ehren Kruger’s screenplay, primarily based on a narrative by Kosinski and Kruger, options loads of clunky dialogue by which the characters spout exposition or unburden themselves of their unoriginal backstories. Drawing from different motorsport movies, to not point out sports activities motion pictures generally, this drama rapidly units up a battle between the crusty, smart Hayes and the cocky, inexperienced Pearce — all of the anticipated obstacles, setbacks and ethical victories arrive proper on schedule.

Filmed throughout an precise Formulation One season, Kosinski flaunts F1’s outstanding realism, and the race sequences (usually displaying Pitt and Idris contained in the vehicles) are staged masterfully. Oscar-winning editor Stephen Mirrione provides these setpieces a kinetic rush whereas letting the footage breathe, in order that we at all times perceive the place Hayes and Pearce are on the monitor. This gorgeous technical achievement is enhanced additional by cinematographer Claudio Miranda and composer Hans Zimmer (Oscar recipients themselves), who add, respectively, a slick polish and a dynamic soundtrack that make every race really feel epic.

Now in his early 60s, Pitt has gravitated to taking part in ageing rapscallions whose lives didn’t end up how they’d hoped. Shades of his roles in Moneyball and As soon as Upon A Time In Hollywood may be detected in Hayes, one other loveable loser who has not given up on himself. Haunted by his private failures however satisfied he nonetheless can outrace anyone, this underdog advantages from Pitt’s self-deprecating humour, which makes Hayes much less of a boringly saint-like determine and extra of a modest, endearing eccentric.

Most of Pitt’s castmates do equally good work redeeming their caricaturish roles. Bardem exudes a hangdog resilience because the long-suffering crew proprietor who’s fearful that his previous pal might die behind the wheel in a useless pursuit of redemption. Idris pushes previous Pearce’s flippantly antagonistic exterior to find the younger man’s vulnerability. And Sarah Niles shines in an underwritten half as Pearce’s overprotective however strong-willed mom, who unlocks her son’s sweeter facet.

However better of all is Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna, the uncommon feminine technical director in Formulation One. Audiences might rapidly suspect she is going to function F1’s love curiosity, however Pitt and Condon have a splendidly grown-up rapport, exuding a sexiness emboldened by the very fact each characters have been across the monitor many occasions. Just like the electrifying race sequences, their chemistry will get the motor operating.