- Director: Steve McQueen
- Screenwriter: Steve McQueen
- Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson, Elliot Heffernan, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, Stephen Graham
- Cinematography: Yorick Le Saux
- Editing: Peter Sciberras
- Score: Hans Zimmer
- Genre: Historical war drama
- Runtime: 120 minutes
London 1940: the city is being pounded continuously by German bombs. A war zone is not the best environment for children so Rita (Saoirse Ronan, flawless Cockney accent) sends her mixed-race son George (Elliot Heffernan) to the safety of the English countryside along with other evacuated kids, but so reluctant is he to be separated from his family, he throws himself off the moving train. We follow him on his exhilarating journey back to the fiery hellscape London has degenerated into, meanwhile, his mother desperately searches for him, having been notified of his disappearance in transit.
George’s adventure home acts as an exploration of his racial identity with the help of kindly air raid warden Ife (Benjamin Clementine). George is isolated from his peers in the respect that he’s braved this daring voyage all on his own but also detached from them due to their appalling racist taunts (the adults aren’t setting a good example though). This treatment of people based on their skin color by a select few in the UK mirrors the fascistic behaviour of Nazi Germany, although in the latter country, the persecution of persons of colour resulted in their deaths. So much for the famed wartime ‘Blitz Spirit’, where Brits of different creeds were supposed to band together stoically with a sense of morale and forge ahead as a single nation, undivided.
The film is incredibly relevant to modern times; the imagery, particularly one aerial shot of London post-bombing, could easily be mistaken for Gaza or Kyiv in 2024. A frenetic opening sequence taking place immediately after a bomb has hit simulates journalists’ footage from the front line; it’s art sadly imitating life.
Director/writer Steve McQueen has created a harrowing portrait of war-torn Britain – within it a powerful statement on racial identity in a country not fully embracing of ethnic minorities – bolstered by Hans Zimmer’s score and impeccable period detail.
My rating: 8 / 10
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