Netflix managed to assemble an unusually starry cast for “In the Hands of Dante,” including Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese, Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler and Gal Gadot, but the result, according to the review, is a deeply disappointing and unfocused film. Published on June 25, 2026, the piece says the movie is not even an interesting failure, but a tedious one.
The story follows the sudden discovery, in the 2000s, of what is said to be the only surviving original manuscript of Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy.” The news reaches mafia boss Joe Black, played by John Malkovich, who hires Dante expert and writer Nick Tosches, played by Oscar Isaac, to verify it. The investigation sends Tosches from New York to Europe, where he falls for Giulietta, played by Gadot, while mafiosi, literary figures, art forgers and even the Vatican become involved in the race for the manuscript.
The film is based on Tosches’ novel of the same name and was directed by Julian Schnabel, whose earlier film “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” is praised in the review. The critic says Schnabel’s insistence on keeping both the modern-day plot and the 14th-century Dante storyline makes the film longer without adding value, and that the dual casting of Isaac as Dante and Gadot as Dante’s wife, Gemma Donati, is unnecessary. Malkovich’s accent is singled out as distracting.
Gadot is described as moving into new territory, with an art-house, erotic role rather than a family-friendly one. She has sexual scenes with Isaac and appears in a Botticelli-inspired sequence recalling “The Birth of Venus.” The review says this makes her interesting to watch, but also worrying, especially after the failures of “Snow White” and “Heart of Stone,” and with “Cleopatra” still in development. It argues that she should return to more conventional films.
The review also says the movie would have benefited from major editing, especially by cutting the entire 14th-century thread and several supporting roles, including Scorsese’s bizarre turn as Dante’s spiritual mentor. At 153 minutes, the film is described as a long, frustrating waste of time.
