An overstuffed, self-serious literary caper that seems to collapse under its own ambition. The premise is intriguing, but the execution is widely described as incoherent, pretentious, and exhausting, with uneven performances and a muddled tone that never quite finds a stable register.
6% ☆☆☆☆☆ (11,344)
In the Hand of Dante
Where to watch: In Theaters
Movie · Drama · Crime · R
2026 · 2h 33m · ★ 6% (11K)
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler
Overview
A Vatican priest discovers Dante's original Divine Comedy manuscript. When asked to authenticate it, writer Nick Tosches steals it, while a parallel story follows Dante's quest to create his masterpiece.
Oscar Isaac, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Louis Cancelmi, Sabrina Impacciatore, Franco Nero, Benjamin Clementine, Paolo Bonacelli, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino, Jason Momoa, Ibrahim Elouahabi, Gavin Weingarten, Dario Samac, Duke Nicholson, Denise Capezza, Galen Hopper, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Vincenzo Leto
Where to watch
Netflix
Curator Review
Verdict
An overstuffed, self-serious literary caper that seems to collapse under its own ambition. The premise is intriguing, but the execution is widely described as incoherent, pretentious, and exhausting, with uneven performances and a muddled tone that never quite finds a stable register.
Best for
Viewers who are curious about ambitious cinematic failures
Fans of literary adaptations that swing hard and miss
People interested in cult-bad or so-bad-it’s-fascinating prestige projects
Skip if
You want a coherent plot and clean storytelling
You’re allergic to pretension or self-important art-house excess
You prefer historical dramas that feel grounded rather than chaotic
Overview
In the Hand of Dante is the kind of prestige project that arrives with a fascinating premise and then seems determined to test your patience. The film’s dual-track structure, literary obsession, and crime-movie machinery should make for a heady mix, but the result is more tangled than transcendent, with viewers repeatedly noting a script that feels overworked and a rhythm that never settles into anything satisfying.
Worth noting
Julian Schnabel’s taste for grand gestures is on full display here, but the movie’s ambition outpaces its coherence. What should feel like a feverish meditation on authorship, legacy, and spiritual transformation instead comes off as uneven and self-regarding, with tonal whiplash between gangster antics, romantic melodrama, and philosophical posturing.
Bottom line
There are isolated pleasures in the cast and in the sheer audacity of the project, but they’re not enough to overcome the sense that the film is constantly reaching for meaning without landing it. For viewers who enjoy watching a big swing miss spectacularly, it may have a certain morbid appeal; for most others, it’s an easy pass.
Top Letterboxd reviews
allain♡ · 573 likes
at least we now know that gal gadot’s a terrible actress no matter what era she’s thrown into
shookone (1★) · 272 likes
Dantelopolis - Inferno, Purgatorio and no Paradiso the flop of this year's mostra edition. a two-and-a-half hour gargantuan mixture of a cock-and-bull story, disastrously ridiculous middle age poetry and romantic ultra-schmaltz. Julian Schnabel seems to have gone crackers after all. Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa undermatch each other in who has the worst Italian accent. Al Pacino pops up for a minute, John Malkovich - back from the actor's grave - for two. Franco Nero gets shot within 30 seconds.… more
Geoff Ketchum (2★) · 248 likes
I never thought a movie about Dante’s Divine Comedy could wear my ass out more than the text, but here we are... and it's not a good place. About half-way through, I felt trapped in the nine circles of Hell and just wanted this thing to be over. Not even Oscar Isaac, who sits in the pocket in almost every scene, could change that. The last hour sucks the life out of you. Just watch Voicemails For Isabelle. You'll have more fun and save an hour. Best of 2026 (ranked)
wersku (2.5★) · 239 likes
One of those films you could write a thousand and one words about, but eventually it starts to resemble the revelations scribbled across the walls of a madman’s cell more than any coherent idea of what the F it actually wants to tell you. In the hands of Dante, divine transformation was inevitable, and in the hands of Schnabel, divinity is folded into its own dark "comedy". Combine gangster slapstick, the distinctly Western obsession with ownership, with a strange spiritual… more
Matt Singer · 191 likes
If you get through all 150 minutes, your reward is hearing Jason Momoa deliver the line “I am amused by this game and, like-a da pussycat, quite curious if she values your life above the money!” in the wackiest Italian accent I have ever heard in my entire life.