TL;DR – The Daddist Dad Film that ever Dadded

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

F1 Review –

In the pantheon of cinema, some films are Dad films. Now, that does not mean only men will enjoy them, only that the movie in question is very Dad-coded. If you have ever sat down to watch a film and thought: ‘My dad would like this’ well reader and a fine, elegant, and clearly one of good taste reader at that, have just watched a ‘Dad film’. Today, we look at a film that might be the most ‘Dad Film’ I have ever seen ‘Dad Film’, and it was excellent to boot.  

So, to set the scene, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was an up-and-coming F1 racer in his youth before a brutal crash took ten years of his life. Since then, he has been chasing different racing challenges, almost like he is knocking off a list of the world’s best races. Indeed, we meet Sonny in the middle of The 24 Hours of Daytona, and he crushes it. But as he makes his way across America to the next race, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), a former friend from his F1 days and current F1 APXGP team owner, pops in for a visit. For you see, Ruben has a problem: his team has never won a race, their second driver has just quit, and they are sitting on 0 points for the season. If they fail to win a race, shareholders like Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies) could force a sale. All Ruben needs Sonny to do is become the second driver for the rest of the season and help give his experience to their very talented yet very young other driver, Joshua “Noah” Pearce (Damson Idris). Sonny left that world behind thirty years ago, but the allure of one last crack at it can’t help but call him back.

There is a lot I would like to champion about F1, and the first was the commitment to actually integrate the film into a real season of the sport. Now, I am sure the F1 corporation didn’t give the film the level of access that we see in the final product for purely altruistic reasons. Much like Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, they are clearly hoping the film brings in a new generation or demographics of fans to the sport, building off the success of Formula 1: Drive to Survive. But whatever the case may be, the access to the drivers, the facilities, and the tracks gives the level of detail that elevates that above many of its competitors. It is here where I also have to champion the digital artists on the film because from a practical level, there had to be a lot of fictional inserts into what was a real race. But those insert shots and characters are seamless in a way I have only seen in films like The Creator.

Then there is the story, which might be the most boilerplate part of the narrative. The old guard coming back to have one more crack at glory and help the new gun out in the process usually only has one or two outcomes, and F1 does not really waver from that at all. The moment you see Tobias Menzies rock up, you immediately know what his character is about, what he will do, and you are completely un-shocked when he does the thing you think he would do. However, where the film excels is taking that comfortable and familiar story as a framework to allow people who might not be familiar with the sport something to hold on to when they get into the weeds about tyre construction and other niche racing terminology. Also, it uses that framework as a foundation to fill the film with some of the best characters of 2025.      

There is an oft-mentioned saying that ‘there are no small parts’, but F1 takes that saying to heart. When you have a film anchored by a mega-star, they tend to run roughshod over everyone else in the ensemble. Now, while Brad clearly is number one on the call sheet, the film is filled to the brim with interesting side characters who all leave their mark, and most of them have an arc throughout the film. We have Sarah Niles as Joshua’s mother, Bernadette Pearce, who holds her own in every scene she is with Brad, and there are times when they come in swinging. Kim Bodnia as Kaspar Molinski, the APXGP team principal who is trying to find a new legacy and also kick it to those pompous leaders of other teams. Abdul Salis, Callie Cooke, Will Merrick, and Samson Kayo bring humanity to the film and help ground it, which it desperately needs,

Kerry Condon is a delight in every moment she is on screen. There is no part of this film where she does not shine. Javier Bardem brings all that energy that you expect of him from his Dune roles, but there is also some desperation and pain in there as well. Tobias Menzies absolutely knows what his role is in this film and plays it to a tee. Damson Idris has a more subtle arc to pull off in this film because his journey is all about maturity, and he tackles this in some interesting ways. Finally, we have Brad Pitt, who plays the same sort of charming character that he does in most of his roles, but he does it so well that you almost want to give him a pass in that regard.

You have the narrative framework, the characters, the actors, and then, importantly, the access. This will give you the groundwork for a good film, but what makes this a great film is the way it captures the thrill of being in the cockpit of an F1 car. The squeal of the wheels, the energy of the crowd, the impact of metal scraping against each other, the roar of flames. To make that work, you need cinematography, props, effects, locations, actors, stunts, and to look good. Every part of the production is coming together. It is one of those rare films where the quick editing actually helps the proceedings. That is why I swear I saw a Hemsworth for half a second at one point. You feel yourself sitting on the edge of your seat as the cars race down the circuits in a way reminiscent of the feeling I got in Joseph Kosinski’s last work, Top Gun: Maverick. Part of that might also come from the fact that we got Hans Zimmer back for the musical score and that man knows how to score high-octane racing.          

Now, if I were to get nit-picky, and I am, there were a couple of things that did make me pause. Some of Ruben’s actions feel guided purely by plot necessity rather than driven by the character. There is a lot of contrivance in this film that you just have to accept, or it will bog you down. When they do a couple of flashbacks to the Spanish Grande Prix, their level of authenticity is down to even things like the sponsors. However, that means that I honestly do not know how this film didn’t fly afoul of Australia’s cigarette advertising legislation. Because they were not just using stock footage in those sequences. Also, while we are here, just higher a younger actor, that wig was not fooling anyone.     

In the end, do we recommend F1? Absolutely. I would not call myself an F1 guy, but by the end, I was entranced with tyre selection and wind drafting. The cast is excellent, the roar of the engines a delight, and every turn a nail biter. Have you watched F1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked F1, we would recommend to you Gran Turismo.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of F1
Directed by – Joseph Kosinski
Story by – Joseph Kosinski & Ehren Kruger
Screenplay by – Ehren Kruge with Jez Butterworth, Kara Smith, Aaron Sorkin & Christopher Storer
Music by – Hans Zimmer
Cinematography by – Claudio Miranda
Edited by – Stephen Mirrione
Production/Distribution Companies – Apple Studios, Monolith Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Plan B Entertainment, Dawn Apollo Films, Apple Original Films, Universal Pictures & Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring – Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Kim Bodnia, Javier Bardem, Sarah Niles, Shea Whigham, Liz Kingsman, Joseph Balderrama, Callie Cooke, Abdul Salis, Rachel Walters, Will Merrick, Samson Kayo, Ramona Von Pusch, Kyle Rankin, Luciano Bacheta & Andy M Milligan with Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz Jr., George Russell, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hülkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, Nyck de Vries, Liam Lawson, Alexander Albon, Logan Sargeant, Guenther Steiner, Benoît Tréluye, Martin Brundle & David Croft
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13