Oscar Isaac And Gerard Butler's Ambitious And Strange 2026 Movie Is Now On Netflix

On paper, "In the Hand of Dante" looked like a winner. It finds art-world giant and Academy Award-nominated director Julian Schnabel ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") exploring the life and work of Dante Alighieri via a time-skipping narrative that takes place in both the early 14th century and something approaching the present day. This may not sound like electrifying material, but with a cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Al Pacino, Franco Nero, and Martin Scorsese, acting fireworks seem like a guarantee.

Yet, the film debuted at the Venice International Film Festival last September and received mostly negative reviews. Even Owen Gleiberman's relatively "good" review for Variety called it "a folly." Less charitable was Little White Lies' Hannah Strong, who wrote, "Schnabel's film isn't even entertaining enough to count as a compelling disaster."

How did this project get away from Schnabel? The problem likely started with the 2002 Nick Tosches novel on which it's based. Writing about the book upon its release for The New York Times, Will Blythe called it "a splendid, passionate mess." You'd at least think the movie's contemporary narrative, which finds Tosches (Isaac) being hired by a mafia don (Malkovich) to verify the authenticity of an incredibly valuable edition of "The Divine Comedy," would be intriguing. Now, you can find out for yourself, as "In the Hand of Dante" is currently streaming on Netflix.

While critics are divided as to whether "In the Hand of Dante" is an interesting failure or listless dreck, most of them are united in their praise for Roman Vasyanov's cinematography. The Russian DP shoots the period segments in vibrant color, while switching to evocative black-and-white for the 21st century sequences. As for the performances, reviewers say Oscar Isaac is terrific in his dual role of Dante/Tosches, while Gerard Butler is gripping as the vicious mobster Louie and Pope Boniface VIII. Martin Scorsese and Al Pacino also impress in their small roles as mentors to, respectively, Dante and Tosches. Meanwhile, there's no shortage of vitriol for Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa, who seem miscast. (That's hardly a surprise; Gadot is miscast in just about everything nowadays.)

At 153 minutes, "In the Hand of Dante" may test your patience, but when the director of "Basquiat" and "Before Night Falls" (which gave Javier Bardem his breakthrough role) takes on material this ambitious, it's worth a look. I'd much rather watch a great filmmaker fail on a grand scale than a studio hack deliver a by-committee blockbuster. Let's just be thankful that Julian Schnabel didn't make "In the Hand of Dante" with Johnny Depp.