The Last of Us (2023) Review: Tenderness at World's End

Is The Last of Us worth watching?

Yes. The Last of Us is a beautifully acted, emotionally shattering survival drama that breaks the curse of video-game adaptations by caring far more about people than spectacle. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey build one of television’s great surrogate-family relationships, and several episodes rank among the finest hours of recent drama. The reservations are an uneven rhythm between quiet character pieces and action set pieces, and a second season that splits viewers more than the first.

What is The Last of Us about?

Twenty years after a fungal pandemic has collapsed civilisation, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is a hardened survivor making a living as a smuggler inside a militarised quarantine zone. He is hired to escort Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a sharp-tongued teenager who may hold the key to humanity’s survival, across a ravaged United States. The infected are only one threat; the survivors they meet along the way can be just as dangerous, and the journey forces both to decide what they are willing to lose for each other.

The Last of Us is an American HBO series in English, created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and adapted from Naughty Dog’s acclaimed game. Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv and Nick Offerman feature in the first season. This review covers seasons 1–2, 16 episodes released in 2023 and 2025; the show is ongoing, so the story is not finished.

Pascal and Ramsey make grief feel alive

The series stands or falls on its two leads, and both are exceptional. Pascal plays Joel as a man who has shut down every part of himself that could be hurt, and the slow return of his capacity for tenderness is devastating to watch. His performance is built on restraint, a flicker of pain in the eyes, a sentence left unfinished.

Ramsey gives Ellie a restless, funny and prickly energy that contrasts beautifully with Joel’s silence. She is brave and reckless, but also a child who has never known the world before the collapse, and Ramsey lets that innocence break through the bravado. The bond between them develops through small moments, shared jokes and practical care, rather than big speeches, and that is why it hits so hard.

Mazin’s patience with the quiet moments

Craig Mazin, who also made Chernobyl, and Neil Druckmann, who wrote the original game, understand that the post-apocalypse is only as frightening as the bonds it threatens. The series repeatedly slows down to tell stories about love and loss, sometimes stepping away from the main characters entirely. The third episode, a near-standalone love story led by Nick Offerman, is the clearest example: a detour that becomes one of the most moving hours of the entire series.

The production is also superb. The overgrown ruins of American cities are beautifully realised, the infected are genuinely terrifying when they appear, and the score, built around the game’s melancholy guitar themes, gives the whole show a haunting identity.

Where the rhythm falters

The emphasis on character comes at a cost. Some episodes rush through action-heavy passages to make room for quieter material, and the infected sometimes feel oddly absent for a horror series. The second season, which adapts part of the sequel game, takes darker, more divisive turns and moves at a different pace, and viewers attached to the first season’s dynamic may find it harder going.

Who should watch The Last of Us?

It is essential for fans of the game and for anyone who enjoys character-driven drama with genre trappings, even viewers who normally avoid zombie stories. Two seasons of roughly hour-long episodes make it a manageable binge. It is emotionally intense, with strong violence, body horror, disturbing imagery and themes of grief and loss; it is not for younger viewers.

If it moves you, try these next or explore the HBO Max hub:

• Fallout for another video-game adaptation that finds its own voice amid post-apocalyptic ruins, with a lighter, satirical tone.
• Yellowjackets for survival horror that cares just as much about what extreme conditions do to people.

The verdict

The Last of Us is a landmark adaptation, a deeply humane survival story with two magnificent central performances and episodes that linger long after the credits. Its pacing wobbles and its second season divides opinion, but at its best it is among the finest drama on television.

Rating: 4.5/5