REEL | Pedro Pascal Composes the 'Behemoth!' Collective

"I never thought you'd come back."

Searchlight Pictures

VIFF 2026—Seasoned Hollywood veteran screenwriter Tony Gilroy directs the orchestral drama Behemoth!, starring Pedro Pascal as a talented but troubled cellist who returns home to Los Angeles to compose film scores amidst his tumultuous personal and romantic life, with plenty of verve and style. From there, Pascal's Alex confronts his past relationships while navigating a rather messy series of conflicts he's been avoiding and running away from all his life by joining different prestigious orchestras across the United States.

Co-starring Olivia Wilde and Eva Victor as his volatile love interests and Will Arnett as his brother, much of the complex script plays with Alex's interpersonal history working in different major cities. We crisscross timelines and locations, from Chicago to Boston to Dallas and back to L.A., trouble and a trail of scorned women await him. Most of this is amusing despite audiences slowly catching up with where we are in Alex's past and present. Pascal is an excellent vessel for Gilroy's endless drama and confrontational humour.

Featuring musical score contributions from nine different composers credited as "The Behemoth! Collective," including the likes of James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, Michael Abels, Michael Giacchino, and Henry Jackman, the dramatic compositions drive the narrative sublimely while edited to mundane sequences of characters moving throughout the film. Scenes of a professional musical orchestra working and scoring to general film footage are thrillingly sequenced and stitched together to parallel the intriguing but messy drama of Alex's turmoil.

Behemoth! screened at the 2026 Vancouver International Film Festival as part of the Special Presentations series at the Park Theatre.


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