If you want to see a movie that will change your life, then watch The Revenant.

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2016)

"If Leonardo DiCaprio doesn't get an Oscar for this, I swear" my cousin said next to me as the credits came up on the screen. I nodded in agreement, mouth slack in utter awe. My mind avalanched with every scene, every word, every sound. I saw this movie in IMAX at the AMC theater and I do not regret the extra money spent.
The Revenant is a movie based on true events in the 1820s about a group of fur traders journeying through the midwest. Among those traders is Hugh Glass played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Glass is the revenant, the one who comes back from the dead after being brutally attacked by a Grizzly and left to his own devices.
First and foremost, the movie soundtrack. From start to finish music supervisors, Ryuichi Sakomoto and Alva Noto curate this intense ethereal sound that tells the story by itself. "The Revenant Main Theme" song howls with wind and weeps with sweeping violin strokes. I wasn't just watching the movie, I was feeling it, too.
Kudos to Alejandro G. Inarritu for once again accomplishing a dramatic masterpiece the likes of Babel (2006), but even more fervent. Since the movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), with Leonardo DiCaprio, Innaritu said in an interview with Hollywood Reporter that "there's something in Leo that I haven't seen in a long time." He said to Leo, "I would love to see you fragile, vulnerable--to see the man that can be broken."
The star of the show never disappoints. DiCaprio spoke Pawnee effortlessly and a dead man's suffering even better. Supporting actor Tom Hardy played an equally exemplary role as Glass' foe, John Fitzgerald. He completely transforms for this character with a complimentary head scar and fowl mouth. While empathizing and marveling in Glass' trek, I was aghast and disgusted with Fitzgerald's. They were both extremely well-done and Oscar-deserving actors.
Yet another Oscar-worthy player in the game is undoubtedly the cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki known for Gravity (2013). The scenic stills of the bitter Canadian landscape juxtaposed with the harsh vulnerability of the character. Not only that, but the angles made me feel as if I were truly there, right next to DiCaprio.
This movie has changed my perspective on life's struggles. It gave me a deeper appreciation for what I had and an enlightening message about being human: being human is about wanting to survive. When you achieve that, nothing is more fulfilling. If you want to see a movie that will change your life, then watch The Revenant.