F1: The movie is a high-octane racing film that hopes to lap its competition at the box office, globally!
DIRECTED BY: JOSEPH KOSINSKI/2025
Top Gun: Maverick director, Joseph Kosinski follows up that full-throttle crowd-pleasing sequel with an all-new original story, co-written with Ehren Kruger. His aim: to bring Formula 1 racing to the forefront for a full-out summer blockbuster IMAX-filmed extravaganza starring Brad Pitt. This is also being produced with Apple Films who is making a big push with F1: The Movie to enter the realm of summer blockbuster success. Does F1: The Movie have the horsepower needed to take the checkered flag this summer? That is the big question going into opening weekend as the film lines up with its box office competition at the starting line…
Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a racer with an erratic resume. Coming out of nowhere to win Daytona, Hayes is eyeing an entirely different racing experience on the Baja Peninsula when he is hunted down by his old friend Ruben (Javier Bardem). Once racing partners, Ruben is desperate to bring in a second racer to his Apex Driving Team to help him get some much needed points, and a win, to help him save his ownership stake in this driving team. He also needs a mentor type to help develop his top driving talent, the talented, but inexperienced and cocky Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris).
The film is a straight-forward script of the older driver needing a chance at a comeback as he faces the upcoming generation, Pearce, who needs the wisdom and experience of someone like Hayes. Despite the formula and script being fairly standard and on point, F1: The Movie is a high-octane fan-pleasing experience that checks all the boxes for a perfect summer film and delivers a fun ride around the track…especially if one is seeing it in IMAX. This movie was filmed with IMAX cameras and there is really no other way to experience the fullness of this story than sitting in front of the largest screen possible with a cutting edge sound system to boot.
Pitt brings lots of gravitas to the role and is his most relaxed and entertaining self since Oceans 11. The real standouts of the film, however, are Damson Idris as Pearce, and Kerry Condon, who plays Kate, the race director for Apex. Not only is she someone who is trying to prove herself as the only female in such a role across the sport, but also to see if she can engineer the car Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce needs to help get Apex across the finish line and compete with the likes of Ferrari.
Damson Idris is simply a star on the rise who plays the role perfectly ranging from a cocky, up-and-comer who is a product of a young generation interested in their branding and influencer status to becoming someone who begins to see the value in what someone like Sonny Hayes can teach him about the sport, but also life. Condon plays her part well, and brings every bit the gravitas that Pitt does, stealing every scene she is in. For those who may not recognize her, but know that they’ve seen her before, think Skeleton Crew (Star Wars), an Oscar -nominated role in The Banshees of Inisherin, Better Call Saul, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and the voice of Friday in Marvel’s Spider-man films and Avenger Films (Infinity Wars and Endgame). Bardem is a fantastic actor (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men, Dune: Part 1 and 2, etc.) that plays the part well but is largely here to bolster the bonafides of this film’s cast.
Pitt, in doing press for the film has expressed how proud he is that this isn’t a CGI-filled extragavanzza, but a film that truly has the principle actors behind the wheel in many of the scenes. He also mentions how many authentic drivers and teams populate the roles of the other teams Apex is racing against so that Formula one fans will feel fully immersed in seeing the sport that they love coming to life on the big screen.
It is also no accident that F1: The Movie is taking place in the middle of Formula One’s season. Formula One racing is said to be the 5th most popular sport in the world behind soccer (futbol), cricket, basketball, and tennis, it is a sport that has a global reach that is ever expanding as Americans catch on to racing fever. With races being held in different cities around the world, a film based on this is surely going to have a global appeal at the box office as well.
So while this film won’t break any new ground, it is in no way spinning its tires either. F1: The Movie is built to win and like Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick, it will have audiences cheering for more and possibly lapping its competition at the box office. Like the story itself, F1: The Movie is a modern story built to appeal to the current 18-25 desired target demographic while also bringing in old-school sensibilities and style to deliver a product that will appeal to the global masses of all ages. If you are wanting to be entertained this summer, then simply start your engines and get yourself to the nearest IMAX theater.
