If you want better acting performance
Choose Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. It scores 4.7 vs 2.0 for acting performance, with a 3.7 overall score.
In the Hand of Dante Movie Review
Bottom Line
Choose it if you want a visually extravagant, aggressively strange literary crime epic and can tolerate confusion. Skip it if you need tight pacing, coherent timelines, convincing romance, or consistently strong performances.
Best for
Adventurous viewers who enjoy visually ambitious auteur swings, literary mysteries, eccentric casting, and films that invite debate even when they fail.
Not for
Anyone seeking a fast, coherent thriller, a persuasive historical drama, a moving romance, or an efficient use of two and a half hours should skip it.
Verdict
In the Hand of Dante is an audacious collision of gangster pulp, medieval biography, spiritual reverie, and romantic melodrama. Roman Vasyanov’s contrasting monochrome and color photography gives the film a striking visual identity, while Oscar Isaac usually provides the necessary center and Gerard Butler supplies its liveliest comic menace. The strengths are overwhelmed by a two-and-a-half-hour structure that meanders through disconnected ideas, underdeveloped characters, florid dialogue, and a romance that rarely feels credible. The manuscript theft and authentication passages generate genuine intrigue, but the period storyline and metaphysical links repeatedly stall the momentum. Its singular ambition may fascinate adventurous viewers, yet the dominant experience is an exhausting, tonally unstable epic whose beauty and boldness cannot compensate for weak narrative control.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
43 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.01 (2%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.47 (16%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.45 (12%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.425 (58%)
-
Very negative below 1.55 (12%)
Pros
-
The crisp black-and-white modern sequences and vivid color period scenes are the film's most consistent achievement. Painterly compositions, roaming camera work, and striking locations give it a grand visual identity.
-
Gerard Butler is the most frequent standout, with John Malkovich, Al Pacino, and Martin Scorsese also earning praise. The ensemble remains uneven because several prominent performances feel miscast or tonally disconnected.
-
Oscar Isaac is usually the film's strongest anchor, differentiating Nick Tosches and Dante with commitment and charisma. Even favorable assessments note that the sprawling script makes his task unnecessarily difficult.
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Few films combine literary scholarship, medieval mysticism, organized crime, reincarnation, and romantic melodrama this boldly. The result is unmistakably original even when it fails.
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The contrast between widescreen monochrome and boxier color imagery gives the film a distinctive look. Even harsh critics often admire its painterly frames, textures, and locations.
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The theft, manuscript authentication, and early criminal pursuit create the film's best suspense. That tension fades as romance and metaphysical reflection take over.
Cons
-
At roughly two and a half hours, the film is consistently described as bloated. Its length magnifies the repetition, tonal drift, and weak second half.
-
The two timelines, dual casting, side plots, and metaphysical links are difficult to track. Their connection remains tenuous until a late explanation that does little to unify the story.
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The cross-century romance is the most repeated weakness. It is underwritten, rushed, and emotionally cold, leaving the declarations of timeless love unconvincing.
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The dialogue is frequently florid, repetitive, and self-consciously poetic. Period speeches, odd accents, and grand declarations often become confusing or accidentally funny.
-
The final act is one of the weakest sections. Melodrama, an awkward showdown, and an unearned philosophical resolution replace the energy of the earlier manuscript plot.
-
The first act and manuscript investigation can move well, but the film increasingly meanders. Long philosophical passages, repeated detours, and a sluggish second half make the journey feel punishing.
Cast & Creators
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CinematographerRoman Vasyanov's cinematography is the most consistently praised contribution. The luminous color, crisp monochrome, unusual framing, and painterly movement give the film beauty even when the story fails.
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Uncle CarmineAl Pacino makes a strong impression in a very small role. His understated, gravelly presence gives the opening moral lesson more weight than most of the later drama.
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Louie / Pope Bonifacio VIIIGerard Butler is the film's most frequent scene-stealer, attacking Louie with comic menace and full commitment. Some find the work overplayed or miscast, but many consider it the movie's liveliest performance.
-
Joe BlackJohn Malkovich gives the mob storyline eccentric menace and dry humor. He is often praised as compelling, though one account felt he was simply coasting on familiar mannerisms.
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Nick Tosches / Dante AlighieriOscar Isaac is the consensus anchor, bringing charisma, commitment, and contrast to the dual lead. Even severe detractors usually recognize the difficulty of his task, though a few consider the material one of his weaker showcases.
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ComposerBenjamin Clementine brings an electrifying presence and also contributes the music. His brief appearance stands out within the film's crowded collection of cameos.
View all 43 feature scores and cast & creators
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Movies, this product is above average in plot originality, originality, suspense, near average in supporting cast performance, cinematography, below average in emotional impact, costume design, chemistry between characters.
Comparison summary
43 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher3 (7%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts5 (12%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower35 (81%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| emotional impact | 1.2 | 3.9 | -2.7 |
| costume design | 1.5 | 4.2 | -2.7 |
| chemistry between characters | 1.6 | 4.2 | -2.5 |
| critic appeal | 1.0 | 3.7 | -2.7 |
| faithfulness to source material | 1.5 | 3.9 | -2.4 |
| cultural representation | 1.5 | 3.9 | -2.4 |
| realism | 1.0 | 3.4 | -2.4 |
| acting performance | 2.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better plot clarity
Choose Girls Like Girls. It scores 5.0 vs 1.4 for plot clarity, with a 4.0 overall score.
If you want better critic appeal
Choose Crime 101. It scores 4.5 vs 1.0 for critic appeal, with a 4.0 overall score.
If you want better emotional impact
Choose Project Hail Mary. It scores 4.4 vs 1.2 for emotional impact, with a 4.3 overall score.
FAQ
Is In the Hand of Dante easy to follow?
No. The film jumps between centuries, genres, and dual roles, and the connection between its timelines remains unclear until a late explanation.
Are the performances good?
Oscar Isaac is usually the strongest anchor, and Gerard Butler is frequently the standout. The rest of the ensemble is uneven, with Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa drawing the most criticism.
Is the movie visually impressive?
Yes. The crisp monochrome crime scenes, vivid color period sequences, painterly compositions, and Italian locations are the most consistently praised elements.
Who is most likely to enjoy it?
Viewers who appreciate audacious, strange, divisive films may enjoy the spectacle and ambition. Those sensitive to slow pacing, confusion, or self-serious dialogue are unlikely to find it worthwhile.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - Rumana's Movie Blog
- Review score
- 1.3
Article Reviews
bostonhassle.com
- Review score
- 2.7
insessionfilm.com
- Review score
- 1.4
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