Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was actually the very first Harry Potter film I saw in theaters. I’d already watched all the previous movies on Blu-ray just a few months earlier, so I went in genuinely excited. Ironically, it also ended up being the last movie I saw before finally starting the books. Much like Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, it’s a hard movie to outright dislike, but equally hard to truly love, since it’s essentially the front half of a single larger story and inevitably carries the slower, less climactic material. This was also one of the earlier films to popularize the trend of splitting a finale into two parts, something franchises like The Hunger Games and IT would later attempt as well, with mixed results.

True to the book, Deathly Hallows: Part 1 marks the beginning of Lord Voldemort’s effective takeover of magical Britain. With Dumbledore gone, he and his Death Eaters swiftly seize control of the Ministry through puppet officials, technically operating from the shadows, though it’s really an open secret at that point, leaving virtually nobody safe. That scene with the Muggle Studies professor remains one of the most genuinely disturbing moments in the entire franchise. During a recent rewatch, I actually covered my son’s eyes to shield him from watching her get killed and devoured by Nagini.

I genuinely loved the Seven Potters sequence, which translated impressively well from the book. It’s also one of those moments where Rowling seems to write herself into a corner, needing to retroactively justify a plot convenience. Because realistically, why does any of this elaborate decoy plan matter if wizards can simply Apparate whenever they want? Harry could’ve just walked into the backyard, Apparated straight to safety, and skipped the entire ordeal. Instead, he needs a whole escort squad and, somewhat questionably, chooses to partner specifically with Hagrid, who admittedly would probably be my first guess for an escort too.

From there, the film shifts firmly into survival mode. Harry becomes a wanted fugitive, since the Ministry, now controlled by Voldemort, has little interest in actual justice beyond capturing the Boy Who Lived. Hermione, meanwhile, is essentially a marked target given her Muggle-born status. So the trio spends much of the film hiding in the shadows, hunting Horcruxes with no reliable way to actually destroy them.

This installment also brings back Dolores Umbridge. Despite never officially serving Voldemort previously, she eagerly aligns herself with his regime now, despite not technically being a Death Eater. Honestly, it carries some uncomfortable real-world parallels, depending on how you look at it. Though, for what it’s worth, she does eventually end up in prison after all this.

The film closes with the tense confrontation at Malfoy Manor, where the family relies on Draco to confirm whether a disfigured Harry is really who they think he is. Which is almost comical, considering Ron and Hermione are standing right there alongside him, and Lucius has certainly spent enough time around Harry to recognize him regardless of his appearance. I understand the fear of Voldemort’s wrath if they guessed wrong, but it’s still amusing watching them hesitate, especially with Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort’s most devoted follower and technically family through marriage, right there in the room.

But Dobby delivers his defining heroic moment, using house-elf magic to outmaneuver his former masters, teleporting Harry and the others to safety, all while delivering a genuinely powerful farewell speech to Bellatrix and the rest of the Malfoy family.

Tragically, Dobby dies moments later, struck by a dagger Bellatrix hurls at the group as they vanish. My stepdaughter was devastated watching this, since she’d grown genuinely attached to Dobby despite his limited screen time across just two films. After finishing this movie, though, it genuinely motivated me to finally commit to reading the books properly, starting from the very first one rather than skipping ahead, since I simply couldn’t wait for Part 2 to arrive.