Paul Mescal is the "mesmerising centre" of Ridley Scott's long-awaited Gladiator sequel, which balances emotional drama and social themes with all-out action spectacle.

"Gladiator II" doesn't try to out-epic the original movie. Instead, it veers more bonkers with a steely Paul Mescal and a delicious Denzel Washington.

Ridley Scott and his team have achieved with Gladiator II—a sequel that holds its own next to such a revered original—is impressive. It's a violent, fast-paced epic that justifies its existence despite its flaws.

He seems to have found one in Normal People’s Paul Mescal, a very fine actor who carries social media trends and fashion movements on his well-turned shoulders, to take up Crowe’s mantle. Mescal plays Lucius,