Movie Review: F1 The Movie

I just watched F1: The Movie, and honestly—it’s like I’m still buckled in, heart racing, adrenaline still humming in my veins..

What hit me first was the sheer sound—the roar of those engines rattling through the theater like they were inside my chest. But underneath all that speed and flash, what really stuck was the vulnerability they managed to carve out of a world that’s usually just “go faster, win harder.” There’s this constant tension between control and chaos, and you feel it not just in the races but in the drivers themselves. Like, yes, the movie shows you the glamour—the sponsors, the cameras, the screaming fans—but then it strips it all back and lets you see the grit, the exhaustion, and that terrifying line where passion starts to eat you alive.

Sonny coming back is not only a matter of prestige. When Javier Bardem, as his former teammate turned team owner, Ruben, looks at him, it is a one-part plea, one-part challenge that suggests buried regret and buried hope. And Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce--bright-eyed, cocky, hungry. Their first glance of each other in the paddock? Sparks. Not only because of expectancy, but because of tacit conflict: master versus antagonist. That thread of relationship--mentorhood killed by ambition--still remained with me. I found myself wishing they could find some common ground in spite of my wishing they could punch each other.

They actually shot during real Grand Prix weekends Silverstone, Spa, Monza, Abu Dhabi so this is not CGI buzzing. It is actual acceleration, actual G. You can nearly smell the rubber, the heat of the brakes. There is a scene at Monza, where Joshua is flying over tyre barriers, which was gasp-worthy to me. It is ridiculous, but at that moment, I did not think about realism, I just experienced that jolt, that momentary fall in my stomach. It hit me in the stomach and I adored it.

Fans behind me yelled for IMAX to win. Believe them. The movie was intended to be seen on large screens and it does show that way as well

When Sonny stalls at the starting line--specters of his accident playing at the back of his mind--I shared that. His entire personality disquieted Then, speeding past the pitlane, the torrent of recollections--suffering, hope, loss--it came too fast. The emotional center is the following: a man running after the second opportunity not to achieve something great, but to show that he is not useless. Bardem nodding at a press event? It wounded me a bit

The film is flashy, sometimes cheesily so. Tires screeching like they’re calling out your name, speeches that lean on clichés—but sometimes, you need that. You want to roar with the crowd, not dissect every line. Reddit summed it up well:

"It’s a film not a documentary… straddle both lines… Hollywood gonna Hollywood."

"A proper popcorn movie… car scenes are amazing, especially in IMAX."

"Fun, light-hearted film with great spectacle… zero expectations and suspension of disbelief.”

This is not a Driver's Ed course--but it is genuine in intent. Brad Pitt and Damson Idris trained and actually took shots in real events in the presence of real drivers. It was produced and endorsed by Lewis Hamilton and the production of the film had the full cooperation of F1. There is earnestness behind all that glitz: this is Hollywood putting its heart on its sleeve, trying to broaden the appeal of the sport.

I sat in front of the screen, and felt like we both just inhaled at the finish line. It did not recreate racing films, but it possessed them. The images, the roar, the hidden resentments, the embarrassed teacher-pupil tango--it all got remembered. It is the sort of film that sears into your mind. Not immaculate, but throbbing, electric, and human.

It is escapism of the highest order filled with velocity, emotion and grit, and Pitt at the height of his gravelly finest. Strap yourself in-you don t need to know the F1 rules to get involved in this one, it takes hold of your heart and simply will not give it back.

Thumbnail is designed by me on pixelLab and other images are screenshot from the movie