Behemoth! Review: Pedro Pascal Finally Finds His Perfect Movie Star Role In Tony Gilroy's Virtuoso Drama [NYFF]

Who knew there was this much drama to be found in a single recording session for a film score? Fresh off his acclaimed journey to a galaxy far, far away with “Andor,” Tony Gilroy’s latest feature returns him to much more familiar territory — one that’s entirely recognizable to fans of “Michael Clayton.” While not exactly a genre exercise, “Behemoth!” certainly has the DNA of one coursing right through Gilroy’s script. Maybe that’s just the side effect of a movie as self-referential as this, taking its cues from the fictional, in-universe action flick from which it takes its title. More likely, this is simply the work of an artist executing at the absolute highest level. One might not expect the day-to-day dealings of world-class musicians to feel this thrilling and operatic and alive, but that’s precisely what we get.

The present-day storyline of “Behemoth!” unfolds from the point of view of Pedro Pascal’s Alex Serian, a phenomenally gifted cellist returning to Los Angeles after decades on the road. His latest jaunt as part of a prestigious symphony in Chicago has just come to an abrupt end. As we soon learn, this is partly due to his guilt in looking after his sickly, declining mother … but mostly to escape the wrath of the latest housewife he’s seduced out of her marriage bed. Alex is a scoundrel, a heartbreaker, and emotionally unavailable to an almost absurd degree. Although we don’t know all this from the film’s opening shot, it somehow doesn’t come as too much of a shock.

It’s clear from our very first glimpse of Alex’s thousand-yard stare that this is a man with baggage, that this is the movie star role Pascal has been waiting for all along, and that 2026 saved its most virtuoso drama for last.

“Behemoth!” will win over audiences as early as its first sequence. Although it starts in media res, as Alex makes small talk with various musicians he hasn’t seen in God knows how long, the majority of the 127-minute runtime that follows unfolds as part of several lengthy flashbacks. Once the orchestra warms up and begins their recording session — a fully-composed track that neatly establishes the soaring diegetic score running throughout the rest of the film — the real magic begins and we’re elegantly transported to Alex’s past. We witness firsthand his tendency to run from complicated situations, his overwhelming gravitational pull that sucks in everyone within his immediate orbit (typically for the worse), and his complete and utter inability to open up to anyone.

Placing us in the perspective of such a closed-off and callous protagonist could’ve been a disaster, but Tony Gilroy’s airtight screenplay and assured direction work hand-in-hand with the not-so-secret weapon of “Behemoth!” — Pedro Pascal. It’s not too much of a hot take to propose that the star has struggled to find a leading role that actually suits him. “The Mandalorian” hardly counts when 90% of his performance amounts to ADR. “Materialists” and “The Fantastic Four” both suffer from his roles seeming woefully miscast. Here, though, it feels as if a script has been written specifically with Pascal in mind and the results practically speak for themselves.

Whether it be his ceaseless brooding, his irresistible charm in an immaculately-tailored tux, or the genuine passion he exudes while lost in the throes of a cello composition, Pascal brings Alex to life with zero sense of self-consciousness or ego. In short, it’s a genuine movie star performance. And “Behemoth!” wouldn’t work without him.

As with any well-oiled orchestra, however, “Behemoth!” is far from a one-man show. While Pedro Pascal appears in pretty much every scene of the movie, a supporting cast packed with some of the finest character actors around liven up the proceedings considerably. Even when he isn’t engaging in a frankly comical amount of trysts (which includes “Daredevil: Born Again” standout Margarita Levieva), Alex’s innermost circle of influence spans a colorful cast of characters. Much of what we know about his fraught family life is embodied by Will Arnett’s Andy, his semi-estranged brother whose childhood rebellious streak and middle-aged burnout are apparent from his many loaded interactions with Alex. An unexpected friendship and mentoring dynamic with young musician Bronte (Kaya Ralls) adds a fatherly touch to Alex’s gruff demeanor. And, despite a minimum of screen time, “Sorry, Baby” breakout Eva Victor brings an endless reservoir of pathos as Alex’s old flame Nadia.

But it’s Olivia Wilde as the loose-canon Carol, the spurned subject of Alex’s most recent affair, who steals the show and best captures the offbeat sense of humor prevalent in “Behemoth!” Doing entirely too much in the best possible way, Wilde is a lightning bolt of energy in every one of her scenes. While Alex does everything he can to put the past behind him and test the universe’s limits of how long he can go on not giving a you-know-what about, well, anything, Carol drags him kicking and screaming back to what certainly seems like one of his biggest (or, at least, most recent) mistakes.

Best of all, this entire subplot sums up the film’s unexpected joys. No matter what side streets or detours it takes, “Behemoth!” always builds to one heck of a payoff.

Yet, as much of a character piece and an actor’s delight as “Behemoth!” undeniably is, Tony Gilroy’s fingerprints remain all over this ode to moviemaking, music, and the artists who make it all possible. The most overtly appealing aspect of this drama comes from how his script effortlessly weaves in various flashbacks of different points in Alex’s life, all linked by music cues and the memories they trigger while recording the score for a movie we only catch glimpses of here and there — all of which are actually composed by A-listers including Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Henry Jackman, Alan Silvestri, Michael Abels, and more. Gilroy gets a surprising amount of mileage out of using these to reflect the various tones of the film, from tracks that might as well be straight out of a chase sequence in “Bourne” to one particularly cartoonish audio gag that prevents this stuffy chamber piece from ever taking itself too seriously.

The “Inside Llewyn Davis” parallels are as apparent as it gets, as well, beginning with Pedro Pascal channeling his inner Oscar Isaac (a master at portraying similarly self-absorbed, unlikeable characters with an irrepressible charm) and ending with a profound revelation only made possible through the art and craft of music itself. While not quite as ambiguous or emotionally devastating as the Coen brothers’ masterpiece, “Behemoth!” easily enters the pantheon of movies about tortured artists grasping for something deeper out of life — even if it all wraps up with an ending that feels a bit too pat. Sometimes, as Gilroy seems to argue, it really is about the journey, discovery, and the path of most resistance.

/Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

“Behemoth!” releases in theaters December 4, 2026.