Darkest Hour | Film Review

Hey Guys x

Oscar season = reviewing Oscar nominated movies, including this one!

This movie is about Britain during World War II. Winston Churchill has just been made prime minister and he has the face the problem of whether or not he should sign a peace treaty with Nazi Germany. But with the rest of the politicians sceptical about him, the threat of invasion imminent and the world watching, can he make the right decisions and continue to secure his term as PM?

Let me be honest, I didn't expect to like this movie at all. Just like with 'Dunkirk', it wasn't a subject matter that I knew too much about, so I didn't think I'd have any interest in the movie.

However, I liked this film so much!

I don't know what it was, whether it was the story itself that was compelling, the characters or whatever, but I found myself so invested in what was happening and I wasn't bored for a moment, which is what I was expecting.

Speaking of 'Dunkirk', these films actually go really well together. If you've seen it, you'll know that Churchill was the PM when the evacuation was happening. In that film, you see it from the point of view of the soldiers. In this movie, you see it from the point of view of Churchill, and some people waiting for the Dunkirk soldiers to be evacuated. The story-line that I was most invested in was seeing how Churchill made the decision to evacuate those soldiers.

Gary Oldman, who played Churchill was phenomenal. I mean, I've been a fan of him since Harry Potter days, and he never fails to impress me with his acting ability. However, in this film he was barely recognisable and that really worked in his favour because it didn't take a lot to forget who the actor was and just focus on the story.

I also didn't expect the film to be as funny as it was. There were times when I was actually laughing out loud, and it's really nice when that happens with a film that's supposed to be really serious.
However, there were also a lot of heartfelt moments, particularly between Churchill and his wife, and Churchill and his typist. In fact, I really wish there were more of them, particularly with the typist, played by Lily James.

I would say that the film suffered from being about a story that's already so well known by a lot of people. If you already knew the decisions that he made and how they turned out, you might feel like there's nothing at stake. However, if it's a period of time that you don't know that much about, or want to learn more about, then it's great!

Overall, you should definitely see this film if it's the type of thing that might interest you. But be warned, I thought I'd hate it and I ended up enjoying it so much, so don't judge it as just a 'historical' movie, because it's more than that.

Have you seen this? What did you think?

Lou xx