Tony Gilroy’s new feature 'Behemoth!' premiered at the New York Film Festival with a pedigree that invited attention: the filmmaker behind several entries in the Bourne series, the showrunner of the acclaimed Star Wars spin-off Andor, and the director who guided Tilda Swinton to an Oscar in Michael Clayton. Yet a review in The Guardian judged the film a disappointment, saying it is marred by stylistic gimmicks and a central performance that stumbles rather than convinces.
The film is a classical-music drama built around a charismatic, womanizing central character played by Pedro Pascal. It also arrives with an unusual musical collaboration: a score contributed by nine prominent composers who have billed themselves as The Behemoth! Collective. The production has been described as having a 'stacked' cast and a highly stylized presentation, elements that set high expectations for Gilroy’s first feature since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy.
But according to the Guardian review, those stylistic ambitions do not cohere. The critic argues that the film’s visual and editorial flourishes draw attention to themselves at the expense of narrative and emotional clarity, leaving the lead performance and the story less memorable than intended. A friend of the reviewer is quoted as likening the picture to 'Tár for straight men,' a shorthand that suggests the film aimed to explore similar territory to other recent high-art portrayals of musical genius but with a different gendered focus.
The review frames 'Behemoth!' as an odd fit for Gilroy, whose previous successes have combined commercial craft with character-driven drama. While the director’s résumé includes films and television that threaded action and intimate storytelling, the Guardian suggests this outing fails to strike the same balance, resulting in a film that feels like a missed opportunity rather than a triumphant return.
Audience and critical reaction at the festival may determine whether 'Behemoth!' finds a receptive following despite the early skepticism. For now, the prevailing appraisal in The Guardian is that the film falls short of its promise, undone by affectation and an inability to translate its technical and musical ambitions into a compelling dramatic whole.