F1: A Fast Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The movie raced through my goddamn heart. No kidding.

The story is the same—an old guy trying to redeem himself—but wait, no. That is not the entire story. That is there, and yet, he is chasing the elusive illusion that we all chase: that one moment of light.

Brad Pitt, in the role of Sonny Hayes, delivers with graceful restraint. He’s cool without trying, a punk rock soul in a high-stakes world. Opposite him, Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce (JP), brings raw energy. As the rookie driver learning the ropes, JP evolves before our eyes—not just in how he handles turns on the track, but in how he learns to listen, to slow down, and to grow.

The race sequences are exhilarating, but it's the strategy—the mental chess Sonny plays—that gives the film its soul. Every twist and turn is not just on the asphalt, but inside the heads and hearts of the team.

There is a lot of tension running high through the team. In the final circuit veteran Sonny Hayes teams up with rookie Joshua Pearce in a last-chance shot at glory.

Every turn is a test of guts, every race a battle of wills.

In the roar of engines and silence between heartbeats—it all culminates in the moment of the miracle.

But I felt that is not the highlight of the movie.

There is a kind of joy in this movie that triumphs the win—the joys of friendship between Ruben (played by Javier Bardem) and Sonny, the validation of being seen (the pit crew girl Jodie, played by Callie Cooke), and the vindication of the sole female technical director who designed the cars (played by Kerry Condon).

And then there is a melancholy that crisscrosses the movie like in our lives—but the movie never over-dramatizes any single moment of joy or sadness. It moves on, keeping with the central theme of the plot, which is to: “Just Drive.”

Go, watch it on the big screen—and I bet you will also feel the way I feel.

This movie is surely the new Chak De for me.