Survival of the fittest.

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2016)

This is my review of The Revenant (spoiler free).
Cast: six time Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, Academy Award nominee Tom Hardy*, Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter.
Plot: Hugh Glass (DiCaprio)is a frontiersman out an adventure with his team in their fight for survival in the bitter landscape. When the unthinkable happens Glass' life is in the balance.
Directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman, 2014) over the period of five years in harsh conditions, this film literally changes the history of filming. Let me go through some points on why I think this is the film of the year:
Performances: The performances throughout are all Oscar-worthy, especially considering that this is the first film with Leonardo DiCaprio, since The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). The performances are exceptional throughout and they didn't come out of character one single bit.
Story: The story of the film keeps intact throughout regarding the length of the film. The director knew what story he wanted to do and he stayed with it.
Lighting: There was no studio used to make this picture it was entirely around nature. The use of natural light in this film is the real clincher. The director didn't use any artificial light to take away the landscape.
Atmospheric landscapes: This film is set in the American wilderness and was filmed in Calgary, Alberta. The acting isn't the only thing that makes the film,it is the beautifully atmospheric polar landscapes, from the vast forests to the incredible mountain ranges this film literally has it all.
All in all this is the film of the year and I completely recommend it without regret, and I would go through the flaws at this point but there aren't any this film is flawless. Even though DiCaprio doesn't say that much I hope he wins the Oscar. 10/10 pure excellence, a must see.
*Best performance by a supporting actor The Revenant (2015).