Key Highlights
- Pedro Pascal delivers a commanding, emotionally layered lead performance as cellist Alex Serian in Tony Gilroy’s drama Behemoth!.
- The film features an ambitious soundtrack scored by nine distinguished composers credited as “The Behemoth! Collective,” including Michael Giacchino, Alan Silvestri, and Michael Abels.
- Despite its technical accomplishments and musical brilliance, the narrative stumbles due to familiar familial trauma tropes and underdeveloped female supporting roles.
Pedro Pascal’s evolution into one of the industry’s most sought-after leading men has been anchored by his distinct ability to channel vulnerability inside sprawling genre properties. Audiences witnessed this quiet emotional core in his portrayals of Din Djarin in The Mandalorian, Joel Miller in The Last of Us, and Reed Richards in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four. In director Tony Gilroy’s latest project, Behemoth!, Pascal steps entirely away from blockbuster combat to anchor an intimate character study as professional cellist Alex Serian. The performance offers a technical and dramatic tour de force, even if the surrounding narrative occasionally loses its footing.
Non-Linear Harmony: The Narrative Structure of Behemoth!
The film opens inside the high-stakes environment of a Hollywood scoring stage, where Alex Serian and a full studio orchestra assemble to record tracks for a fictional movie titled Spies Don’t Run. Tony Gilroy quickly establishes the internal politics of the room, sketching tension over recently dismissed ensemble players and older veterans reacting to an influx of younger performers. Yet as the downbeat falls, the film abruptly departs the scoring stage, cutting back to Alex’s tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
From that pivotal transition, Behemoth! adopts a non-linear approach that moves back and forth through Alex’s past positions in Boston and Dallas. The present-day music serves as an active score for his memories. In a standout sequence reminiscent of Gilroy’s work on Michael Clayton and The Bourne franchise, Alex’s performance on Spies Don’t Run becomes the pulse-pounding sonic backdrop to a tense real-life encounter with his ex-partner, Carol Spedding (Olivia Wilde). Later, performing the main love theme from a fictional production titled Seasons of Glass triggers flashbacks to his former romantic and creative partnership with prima violinist Nadia Hynes (Eva Victor).
The Sound of Cinema: The Behemoth! Collective
The musical architecture of Behemoth! represents a rare technical achievement in modern film production. Rather than utilizing a single composer, the film commissions original diegetic compositions from nine prominent industry figures working under the moniker “The Behemoth! Collective”:
- Michael Abels
- Emily Bear
- Lukas Frank
- Michael Giacchino
- Henry Jackman
- Nami Melumad
- James Newton Howard
- Brandon Roberts
- Alan Silvestri
The collaborative score serves multiple tonal functions. Melumad provides an elegant harp motif linked to Alex’s mother (JoBeth Williams), while Abels composes introspective cello exercises that mirror Alex’s internal isolation. High-octane tracks by Howard and Silvestri inject kinetic propulsion into the film’s interpersonal conflicts. In a lighter moment, Giacchino crafts a vibrant, animated-style composition featuring exaggerated cymbals and effects to underscore an escalating domestic argument between Alex’s brother Andy Serian (Will Arnett) and his wife Toya (Stephanie Sigman).
Despite this sonic brilliance, the narrative gradually steps away from exploring the craft of film scoring. Gilroy frames music primarily as an instrument of psychological obligation imposed by Alex and Andy’s musician parents, played by Williams and Hank Azaria. Consequently, the film shifts away from exploring Alex’s relationship with his artistry, opting instead to tread well-worn ground concerning inherited trauma before arriving at a relatively tidy resolution.
Character Dynamics and Ensemble Performances
Pedro Pascal anchors the production by projecting charisma, subtle humor, and deep-seated regret through Gilroy’s tightly framed close-ups. However, the supporting framework reveals a visible imbalance between the narrative depth afforded to male versus female characters. While Azaria is given a substantial, showstopping dramatic monologue, Williams is largely confined to the physical limitations of an ailing parent.
Similarly, the romantic connections in Alex’s life frequently lack individual agency. Victor brings emotional gravity to Nadia, yet her character arc remains largely tethered to Alex’s emotional distance. Wilde brings comedic energy to Carol, though the part adheres closely to familiar archetypes, while Margarita Levieva is handed an emotionally mismatched scene as a fleeting companion. Brighter spots among the supporting roster include Kaya Ralls as Alex’s student Bronte and Alexa Swinton as the emerging prodigy Viviana Glenn, both of whom manage to make an impression in their limited screen time.
Why This Matters
Behemoth! marks a notable artistic divergence for both Tony Gilroy and Pedro Pascal. For Gilroy, whose recent work on Andor cemented his reputation for meticulous political thrillers, the film is an experiment in marrying structural genre editing with musical character drama. For Pascal, it demonstrates his ability to command an auteur-driven festival showcase entirely independent of major intellectual property machinery. Furthermore, the collaboration of nine top-tier film composers through The Behemoth! Collective establishes a unique precedent for how cinematic scores can be integrated into high-profile independent cinema.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will Behemoth! be released in theaters?
Following its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, the Searchlight Pictures release is scheduled to debut in movie theaters on December 4.
Who composed the music for Behemoth!?
The film features an original score created by nine distinct composers credited together as “The Behemoth! Collective”: Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Michael Giacchino, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, James Newton Howard, Brandon Roberts, and Alan Silvestri.
Who stars alongside Pedro Pascal in the movie?
The ensemble cast includes Eva Victor, Olivia Wilde, Will Arnett, Stephanie Sigman, Hank Azaria, JoBeth Williams, Kaya Ralls, Alexa Swinton, and Margarita Levieva.
