Dunkirk movie review: the power of purpose
Primal and exhilarating, full of dread and tension. Drops us right into the chaos of war to tell an intimate story about fear and intensity of purpose.
1940s
Churchill movie review: stumbling over truth
This low-stakes, emotionally limp portrait may be intended to humanize a towering, almost mythic figure, but instead just needles and undercuts him.
Whisky Galore! movie review: leave it in the bottle
The cast is charming, but this listless and mysteriously unfunny cover of the 1949 Ealing comedy doesn’t seem to have bothered to look for a good reason to exist.
Their Finest movie review: keeping calm and carrying on making movies
Delightful dry and snarky satire on wartime propaganda, sharp feminist commentary, and a brilliant cast make this snappy historical dramedy a real corker.
Another Mother’s Son movie review: punching Nazis, mom style
Not alt-history but a true story from a Nazi-occupied English-speaking place, a hugely relevant reminder that resistance to injustice is an absolute imperative.
Kong: Skull Island movie review: ape-ocalypse now
Boiled down to its bonkers essence, Skull Island is a Vietnam war movie with monsters, a retro analog vibe, and a dash of both Moby-Dick and The X-Files.
Viceroy’s House movie review: are we condemned to repeat this?
Snappy, snappish historical drama about the partition of India rings with sly humor, dry cynicism, and a smack of relevance for today’s divisive politics.
A United Kingdom movie review: a love that changed the world
Insistent chemistry between David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike fuels a true story of passionate romance with an urgent message about love as radical and political.
Allied movie review: movie spies with delicious old-fashioned mystique
An elegant potboiler that judiciously balances psychological and physical suspense, one that feels like a romantic drama from WWII only recently rediscovered.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children movie review: infodump, the movie
Relentlessly dull. A tour of a strange world and “characters” little more than their “peculiar” abilities isn’t enough to whip up fantastical excitement.
