Che: Part One

Right now you can watch Che: Part One in the US on Philo — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. Its 7/10 TMDB score, built from 833 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. Watch it for Benicio del Toro — one of the stronger performances out there right now. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Philo.

Che: Part One arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Che: Part One trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. Ernesto Guevara, known as 'Che', leads a group of Cuban exiles under Fidel Castro in a revolution to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba. Benicio del Toro and Demián Bichir lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2008. Che: Part One resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Che: Part One is what you recommend to people who say they do not really watch much. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Benicio del Toro carries the material with a performance that rewards close attention. Worth starting sooner rather than later.