Telling the same story from different perspectives is an interesting and effective way of exploring the various truths and fictions in each version of events, however unlike Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's classic _In a Grove_ (and its 1950 adaptation _Rashomon_), which casts doubts in the reader's mind as to which character's stories, if any, are reliable, _The Last Duel_ tells us in the title card of the third and final chapter that Lady Marguerite's account is **the truth**.

On the one hand, this is an understandable decision from the filmmakers, as not doing so would have allowed doubt to be cast on the truthfulness of her accusation, which would have likely caused mass criticism and outrage among some regardless of the actual quality of the storytelling (and to be fair, even In a Grove did not cast doubt on the rape aspect of its story despite being published almost 90 years prior to the Me Too movement).

On the other hand, however, this decision does beg the question of why structure the story this way in the first place, since arguably the whole point of showing differing perspectives is to give the audience a thought-provoking mystery as to who to believe (not that it would be much of a mystery even without the title card, as the brilliant acting of Comer and Driver made it pretty clear where the truth lay).

So while it would have been nice to see some faith from the filmmakers in their own storytelling and actors (and the intelligence of their audience), the awkwardness of this decision doesn't detract too much from the film for me to not recommend it.

Aesthetically this movie is superb, the medieval setting feels genuine and the performances are brilliant. The only thing that prevented this movie from becoming a classic is the writing structure. Instead of building an interesting plot that stems from the rape accusation, the movie decides to split itself into three flashbacks where the rape itself is played out and interpreted slightly differently by the three main characters. This feels like a very elementary style of writing as it completely skips over any complex investigative work in favour of simply showing the audience the rape. If the writer wanted to prove without a doubt that the rape really happened, this could've been done in a much smarter way without actually showing it, for example:

*minor spoilers*

Before the rape, there was a scene where Adam Driver's character is performing rape-play with a group of prostitutes, in both that scene and the actual rape scene he says a line "You can run, but I will only chase you". What if we never saw the rape scene and the only evidence we had against him was the rape-play scene. Jodie Comer's character is instructed by the judge to recount the events leading up to the rape. At the very end she tells the court "then he told me, I can run, but he would only chase me". Imagine how much of an "OH SHIT" moment that would've been for the audience especially if we had been led to doubt Comer's accusation.

Without any script writing experience I've already written a superior plot while sitting at my computer butt ass naked. What a shame, so much wasted potential in this movie.

The movie is very well made. Everything from the sets to the costumes and the acting is, in typical Ridley Scott matter, flawless.
However the way the story is told is not to my liking. You have about 45-50 mins of content but, due to the multiple perspective way of storytelling, you have to watch it three times. It's a "he said, she said" that in the end isn't proven one way or the other because, let's face it, "God has spoken" and "an honest man can't die" is as stupid as "you can't get pregnant from a rape because if you don't enjoy intercourse you can't get pregnant. That's sience"
And there lies the biggest issue I have - the movie criticizes a whole society for there misogynistic ways but like with the above that was how it was. Women were property just like men could be. Or what do you thing all the folk working for those nobles were ? From our moral point of view this was wrong but pointing a finger back 700 years in time is easy to do.
Well, it's not a political forum here and I think I will attract comments with what I said no matter what.
The actual duel at the end was great, very well filmed, with the instense and brutality you imagine had to be there in a fight for ones honor to the death. But after sitting through more than two hours it wasn't enough to save the movie in my eyes.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/the-last-duel-spoiler-free-review

"The Last Duel became one of my favorite Ridley Scott films, boasting a commanding Jodie Comer who delivers one of the year's most emotionally powerful performances.

Adam Driver, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck all offer remarkable interpretations, but the actress fully embodies Marguerite de Carrouges' courage amid so much pain and suffering in a theme-heavy, brutally shocking true story.

The perspective-based narrative structure is interesting and efficient enough to overcome its inevitable repeatability issues. Holding technical attributes that will surely get recognition in the awards season - especially Harry Gregson-Williams’ score - the actual duel is one of the most nerve-wracking sequences of the last few years, compensating the audience's patience with a satisfying climax.

Watch it on the big screen, if possible."

Rating: A-

**Analysis and Explanation at Spotamovie.com** - The Last Duel is a story of friendship, love and betrayals. But also of violence, war and weak justice. So even if it tries to focus on the role of women within society in the Middle Ages, the film presents crucial topics and a particular narrative structure. And we think this is a hazardous solution by Ridley Scott and his team, but somehow, it makes sense. And we are going to explain to you why in our analysis. The film is based on a true story, and reveal the courage of a woman who defied a nation and made history. - **The Story** - Two old friends, Sir Jean de Carrooges and Jacques Le Gris, found themselves fighting each other in different aspects of their lives. As a result, their military career takes different paths, as well as their social status and lives. Therefore, they build a story of envy, jealousy and betrayals that will change their stories forever. But why? The movie will provide you with three versions of the truth, and we have the challenging role of understanding who is lying. A gorgeous, highly educated woman will make things harder between the two old friends, Marguerite de Thibouville. What is going to happen? For which reasons a duel will be necessary? And who is Marguerite? - Full Analysis at https://www.spotamovie.com/the-last-duel-movie-review-and-analysis-2021-movie/