Film Talk: Life in the fast lane for Brad and his Pitt crew with F1: The Movie

​But Formula One is a sport that brings with it an inherent danger – those high speed corners and breath-taking straights bringing not only intoxicating thrills but also devastating disasters.

This is a stark reality which Sonny Hayes, the protagonist of F1: The Movie played by two-time Oscar winner Brad Pitt, knows all too well. The story goes that Hayes, who competed alongside some of the all-time F1 greats in the 1990s, now lives as a nomadic racer-for-hire after a catastrophic on-track crash stopped his Formula One career in its prime. When he’s approached by his former teammate-turned-team owner Ruben, played by Javier Bardem, to join his struggling team APXGP and attempt to score them some much-needed points by the end of the season, the decision to return to F1 brings up all kinds of complicated feelings.

“He’s a pure racer,” says Fight Club and Bullet Train star Pitt, 61, of his character. “He’s there for the love. He washed out of F1 at a young age, and had thought he had made his peace with that dragon – until this opportunity comes along from his old friend.”

Not only does Sonny have to get used to the modern style of racing – which he learns is vastly different to the technology he used in the Nineties – but he also butts heads with his hotshot rookie teammate Joshua Pearce, played by Londoner Damson Idris. After all, F1 may be a team sport, but it’s one where often your own teammate is your biggest competition.

It’s this inherent drama that makes Formula One such an exciting sport to bring to the big screen, and director Joseph Kosinski – also at the helm for Top Gun: Maverick – took it a step further by filming in real cars on real Grand Prix weekends. Let’s take a closer look...

​F1: THE MOVIE (UK 12A/ROI PG, 156 mins) ***

Released: June 25 (UK & Ireland)

Brad Pitt turns back the odometer, looking considerably younger than his svelte 61 years, and pumps the accelerator on testosterone-soaked bravado in Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski’s predictable drama, which boasts seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton as a producer.

The British driver appears fleetingly alongside current Formula 1 stars in footage captured at real race weekends including Silverstone in Northamptonshire, where Pitt and co-star Damson Idris appear on the grid and in the pit lane as drivers of a fictional 11th team vying for championship glory.

The conflation of crowd-pleasing fantasy and high-octane reality is impressive, heightened by Pitt performing his own driving so remote-controlled, custom-made cameras, mounted on race cars, can spin through 180 degrees and capture his dogged expression in thrilling duels.

When Kosinski’s picture feels the need for speed, the adrenaline rush is intoxicating.

However, you can hear narrative brakes screech every time screenwriter Ehren Kruger addresses character development and a linear plot punctuated by fractious exchanges between the two leads as they jockey for supremacy behind the wheel.

“I don’t live with my mum,” protests Idris’s cocky upstart, “she just cooks for me sometimes!”

A romantic subplot between Pitt and Kerry Condon never accelerates into top gear. Thirty years after an accident on the track nearly ended his driving career, Sonny Hayes (Pitt) delivers a dazzling penultimate leg in the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance competition for Chip Hart Racing.

Soon after, he receives an unexpected visit from former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), who owns the Apex Grand Prix (APXGP) Formula 1 team.

Ruben is 350 million US dollars in the red after a disastrous first half of the season without a single championship point.

The board of directors is poised to pull the plug.

With just nine races left, Ruben begs Sonny to help him turn around APXGP’s fortunes by partnering hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce (Idris).

Team principal Kaspar Molinski (Kim Bodnia), technical director Kate McKenna (Condon) and chief mechanic Dodge Dowda (Abdul Salis) join Joshua in openly questioning Ruben’s judgement by entrusting their fate to an old-timer who hasn’t driven Formula 1 for decades.

Sonny silences his critics except for Joshua and his concerned mother Bernadette (Sarah Niles), who fears the veteran’s reckless streak could endanger her boy.

F1: The Movie is a technically polished and emotionally satisfying underdog story with one inevitable outcome at the glitzy Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that concludes the race season.

Kosinski’s picture earns the chequered flag for its exhilarating depiction of life on the edge on rubber-scorched wheels and narrowly avoids clipping barriers with a brief injection of villainy in the boardroom. Pitt and Idris are well-matched as boyishly charming mentor and hot-headed protege, destined to learn valuable life lessons from each other.

M3GAN 2.0 (UK 15/ROI 15A, 120 mins) ***

Released: June 27 (UK & Ireland)

Two years have passed since artificially intelligent doll M3GAN went rogue and almost killed her creator Gemma (Allison Williams) in pursuit of fulfilling a mission to protect Gemma’s young niece, Cady (Violet McGraw).

The technology used in the device is exploited by a defence contractor to create the ultimate spy, Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno).

Like her predecessor, Amelia becomes self-aware and rebels against her human masters with deadly force.

The only way to halt this relentless new adversary is to resurrect M3GAN (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) and upgrade her killer hardware so she can vanquish Amelia.

Understandably, Gemma is reluctant to unleash her corrupted creation back into the world but desperate times call for outlandish and potentially suicidal measures.

CHICKEN TOWN (UK 15/ROI 15A TBC, 90 mins) ***

Released: June 27 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

Two generations unexpectedly join forces in the name of opportunistic enterprise in a comedy directed by Richard Bracewell, which was shot on location in the Fens and Norfolk.

Green-fingered grandfather Kev Maddams (Graham Fellows) accidentally cultivates a shed of cannabis plants on his allotment and needs to get rid of the evidence.

He enlists the help of young schoolfriends Jayce (Ethaniel Davy) and Paula (Amelie Davies) to discreetly peddle the weed around the local community.

The naive trio form a chosen family as they seek to accomplish their hare-brained scheme without attracting the attention of local police.

FROM HILDE, WITH LOVE (UK 15/ROI 15A, 125 mins) ***

Released: June 27 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

Young love stands up to the might of Hitler’s army in an affecting German drama written by Laila Stieler and directed by Andreas Dresen, based on the true story of two members of the anti-Nazi resistance.

In 1942 Berlin, Hilde Coppi (Liv Lisa Fries) is happily pregnant by her husband Hans (Johannes Hegemann) and looking forward to their life together.

He becomes involved with a group of young rebels who will become known as the Red Orchestra and she joins him in the risky endeavour.

Unfortunately, the Gestapo arrests Hilde and she gives birth to their son in prison.

For the sake of her child, Hilde musters quiet determination and inner strength to endure in a desperate situation.

THE ROAD TO PATAGONIA (UK 15/ROI 15A TBC, 91 mins) ***

Released: June 27 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

Ecologist, filmmaker and surfer Matty Hannon embarks on an adventure of discovery in a self-directed feature-length Australian documentary shot over the course of 16 years.

His 50,000km solo trek is supposed to take him along the west coast of the Americas from the Alaskan wilderness to the tip of Patagonia.

Travelling alone takes an emotional toll until Matty meets permaculture farmer Heather Hillier and the pair fall deliriously in love.

Committed to their fledgling romance, Heather drops everything to join Matty on his life-changing expedition on motorbike and horseback and the couple encounter colourful characters including Amazonian shamans and Zapatista rebels.