Pedro Pascal’s ‘Behemoth!’ Divides Critics at NYFF

Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! premiered at the New York Film Festival with Pedro Pascal playing a professional cellist whose music career and unsettled personal life begin to collide. Early reviews agree that the film understands the craft of performance, but they split sharply over whether its playful structure produces an emotionally satisfying drama.

Pascal plays Alex Serian, a gifted musician who has moved among major orchestras and Hollywood scoring sessions. After years on the road, he returns to Los Angeles, where family tensions, old relationships and questions surrounding a teenage prodigy force him to reconsider the life he has built around music.

Pascal learned the instrument for the role

One point of critical agreement is the credibility of Pascal’s playing. Variety reports that Gilroy had the actor learn cello technique, allowing the camera to show his bowing, fingering and physical relationship with the instrument rather than relying entirely on concealment. That commitment gives the film’s rehearsal and recording-studio scenes a grounded quality.

The production also treats film scoring as a subject rather than a backdrop. Nine composers, including Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Michael Abels and Alan Silvestri, contributed as the “Behemoth! Collective.” Deadline reports that 303 Los Angeles musicians were used in the musical sequences, underscoring the scale behind a story focused on one player.

Early reviews hear different notes

Deadline praised the film as a compelling character study and a tribute to the musicians who shape movie soundtracks. Its review highlighted Pascal’s restrained performance and the ensemble, which includes Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Alexa Swinton, Will Arnett, Hank Azaria and JoBeth Williams.

Variety was more reserved. Its review admired the film’s authenticity and formal playfulness but argued that the shifting chronology can be confusing and that Alex’s emotional journey does not always land with the intended force. That disagreement gives the festival launch an intriguing tension: the movie’s musical world appears persuasive, while its drama may depend on how readily viewers connect with Gilroy’s nonlinear approach.

Behemoth! is scheduled for release on December 4 through Searchlight. With a 127-minute running time and Gilroy directing his first feature since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy, it arrives as both a star vehicle for Pascal and a conspicuous return to filmmaking for the Andor creator.