Blitz (12A)

Oscar-winning writer-director Steve McQueen’s emotionally-fraught Second World War drama.

Among the most versatile filmmakers working today, McQueen doesn’t repeat himself. A distinctive filmography that spans across everything mainstream and indie—from American slavery and Dutch Nazi occupation to the rhythms of London’s West Indian communities and a women-led crime extravaganza—stands tall as proof. With the elegant historical fiction Blitz, his largest-scaled film to date, McQueen, this time, turns his lens onto London’s blitzkrieg that started in September 1940.

9-year-old George (brilliant newcomer Elliott Heffernan) is sent to the English countryside for safety by his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan). Defiant and determined to reunite with her and his grandfather, Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, George embarks embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril. Meanwhile, a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.

Everything about Blitz is meticulously crafted, from the precise, historically-accurate production elements to the tension-inducing sound design. Hans Zimmer’s score is fraught with feeling, augmenting the already-intense sequences to something almost harrowing. Performances, led by Heffernan, are vulnerable and honest, as if McQueen pushed everyone to do their very best with the role they were given, no matter how small.

Empathetic, brutal, brilliant filmmaking.