While Brad Pitt has always been a Hollywood heavyweight, starring in some of the most popular movies of all time including Fight Club, Se7en and the Oceans’ movies, his most recent run of films might be his best.

Since 2019, the icon has won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, been a charismatic action hero in Bullet Train, driven the world’s fastest cars in F1: The Movie and most recently survived the wilderness in Heart of the Beast.

Heart of the Beast is the latest example of Brad Pitt playing whatever role he wants because he’s Brad Pitt.

While it might not be the best film in his four-decade-long catalogue of movies, it is one of his more interesting and definitely a new string in the bow for the actor who has done almost everything.

Heart of the Beast follows Retired Special Forces Command Sergeant Major James Belmont and his service dog Odin. The pair regularly fly a seaplane over the Alaskan wilderness as they keep to themselves instead of interacting with the rest of the world.

While on a flyover, James suffers a heart attack mid-flight, resulting in the plane crashing into a lake in the Alaskan wilderness.

The remainder of the movie follows James and Odin’s trek back to civilisation and the different challenges the wild frontier throws their way.

Due to small casts, survival movies like Heart of the Beast require a strong lead actor to keep audiences engaged with the story. Fortunately and unsurprisingly, Pitt delivers that here.

His characterisation of Belmont is fantastic. He’s clearly a troubled soul, consistently reliving the horrors of his time serving in the military. It’s demonstrated from the get-go.

These details are important because they give the audience an insight into who he is and why they should care for him. So, come the crash at the end of the first act, there is already some heavy weight being felt.

Add in a loyal canine companion and the movie has all the pieces it needs for an emotional roller coaster.

Another win for Heart of the Beast is its location. While survival movies aren’t a new genre by any stretch, the Alaskan wilderness and its extremes of light and dark are unique.

It means the scenery always pops and, in glorious 4K resolution, it at times feels like a nature documentary.

There are some hard-to-watch scenes here, especially an interaction involving a bear. It’s not at the level of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, but it’s still difficult nonetheless.

It looked very gruelling to film and it’s a testament to director David Ayer and his crew that they were able to pull it together.

The only real issues are to do with the film’s pacing. This is solely because of James’ flashback to his time in the military. The film isn’t long by any means, clocking in at around 100 minutes, but when the flashbacks do occur, it feels like the momentum of James’ survival is lost.

The flashbacks serve the narrative and don’t pull the audience out of the immersion, but they are stark in contrast.

Heart of the Beast is ultimately a winner. While not quite the heights of Cast Away in terms of survival films, it’s definitely a welcome addition to Brad Pitt’s incredible filmography.

Heart of the Beast is now showing in cinemas across the country.