In the Hand of Dante review: Netflix's wildest movie you must see

TL;DR — Julian Schnabel's In the Hand of Dante arrives on Netflix as the streamer's strangest, most divisive drama of 2026, a dual-timeline literary thriller that pairs a contemporary manuscript heist with a hallucinatory 14th-century Florence. It is messy, ecstatic, and unlike anything else on the platform.

In the Hand of Dante is a long-gestating adaptation of Nick Tosches' 2002 cult novel, finally completed by Julian Schnabel and released theatrically before landing on Netflix, where it now sits as one of the streamer's most ambitious original productions of the year — a metaphysical chase film that doubles as a meditation on authorship, faith, and obsession. With Oscar Isaac and Gal Gadot leading an enormous ensemble, it is also the most star-studded art movie Netflix has ever hosted.

What is In the Hand of Dante about, exactly?

The film braids two stories set seven centuries apart. In the present day, a haggard New York manuscript dealer (played by Isaac) is offered the original handwritten manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy — a document that, if real, would be priceless and possibly heretical. In Renaissance Florence, a young Dante Alighieri (also Isaac) wanders a plague-ravaged city, guided by visions, a mysterious woman, and a roguish monk who may be the devil in disguise. The two narratives bleed into each other, sometimes literally, as if the same soul is being passed between centuries.

Why Schnabel waited nearly two decades to make it

Schnabel optioned the Tosches novel in the mid-2000s and reportedly worked on the script for the better part of a decade. The project survived funding collapses, a pandemic, and at least one complete recut. The result feels like a film that was dug out rather than directed — every frame carries the weight of someone who refused to let it die. That stubbornness shows up on screen, for better and worse.

Oscar Isaac and Gal Gadot anchor a chaotic ensemble

Isaac pulls double duty as both the dealer and Dante, and his best scenes are the quiet ones: a man alone in a locked room, holding a page he knows he should not touch. Gal Gadot, cast against type as a scholar with a hidden agenda, gives the film's most controlled performance. The supporting cast is a festival of familiar faces — including Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler, and John Malkovich — most of whom appear in single, theatrical set-pieces that feel more like tableaus than scenes.

A bullet-point tour of the chaos

• Two timelines that loop and rhyme rather than simply alternate
• Dialogue that swings from streetwise New York profanity to 14th-century Italian verse, sometimes in the same scene
• Sound design that treats every page turn like a gunshot
• A score built around a single recurring organ chord, stretched across the runtime
• Visual effects that look deliberately handmade, like a Renaissance painting come to life

The case against In the Hand of Dante

For all its ambition, the film is overlong, occasionally incoherent, and almost defiantly uninterested in keeping you oriented. Casual viewers will bounce hard in the first twenty minutes. The 14th-century material, which is the soul of the movie, is shot in a style that some audiences will read as gorgeous and others as unforgivably mannered. The romantic subplot never quite lands. And the third act, which tries to resolve both timelines at once, sacrifices clarity for sweep.

Who should watch it on Netflix this weekend

Stream In the Hand of Dante if you loved Schnabel's Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, or Armando Iannucci's The Personal History of David Copperfield — films that treat period settings as playgrounds rather than museums. Skip it if you came in expecting a heist thriller; this is a movie that uses a heist the way a poet uses a footnote. With a two-hour-plus runtime and zero conventional hand-holding, it is the rare Netflix release that genuinely demands — and rewards — a darkened room, a big screen, and your full attention.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is In the Hand of Dante on Netflix right now?

Yes. In the Hand of Dante premiered in limited theaters in May 2026 and began streaming globally on Netflix on June 20, 2026. It is available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and most international territories, and Netflix has flagged it as a flagship original title for the summer slate, with the film promoted on the platform's home page for several weeks after launch.

Who stars in In the Hand of Dante?

Oscar Isaac leads the film in a dual role as both a contemporary manuscript dealer and the young Dante Alighieri. Gal Gadot plays a scholar with a hidden agenda. The sprawling supporting cast includes Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Lou Doillon, and several Italian stage actors in key Renaissance-era roles. The ensemble was assembled over more than a decade of development.

What is the movie In the Hand of Dante based on?

The film adapts Nick Tosches' 2002 novel of the same name, a hallucinatory literary thriller that interweaves a 1990s manuscript hunt with the life of the real Dante Alighieri in 14th-century Florence. Tosches, a cult music and literary journalist who died in 2019, wrote the book as a hybrid of fiction, poetry, and memoir, and director Julian Schnabel reportedly aimed to preserve that hybrid structure on screen.

How long is In the Hand of Dante and is it appropriate for kids?

The film runs just over two hours and is rated R in the United States for strong language, sexual content, nudity, and some violence, including stylized depictions of plague-era Florence. Netflix has assigned it a TV-MA equivalent in most international regions. It is not recommended for younger viewers, both for the content and for the dense, slow-moving literary style that requires adult attention.

Did In the Hand of Dante get good reviews?

Reviews have been sharply divided, which is typical for Julian Schnabel's work. Critics who responded to the film's painterly, operatic style called it a long-overdue masterpiece and the most ambitious Netflix original of the year. Detractors called it overlong, mannered, and self-indulgent. The film's audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is notably higher than its critics' score, suggesting it plays especially well with viewers who go in expecting a sensory, non-traditional drama.

References

• https://www.netflix.com/title/81710456
• https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/movies/in-the-hand-of-dante-review.html
• https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/in-the-hand-of-dante-review-1235999111/
• https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/16/in-the-hand-of-dante-julian-schnabel-review