The pain and trauma caused by World War II isn’t something new to movies. It’d be hard to find any film about that period that wasn’t focused on the atrocities or a ray of hope that helped people survive. And Blitz, the new film by Sir Steve McQueen straddles the line between showing the hope and horror of the times, all focusing on a little Black boy in 1940 England.
Blitz follows a family in London in 1940. Rita, a factory worker decides to finally have her son evacuated as the Blitzkrieg continues to rain down on the city. George, upset at having to leave his mom and grandfather behind decides to jump off of the train an hour outside of London and find his way back to his family. If only the horrors of the war were the only thing that George experiences in his journey home.
From a train track scene that takes your breath away and shocks you more than the ones from Fried Green Tomatoes, to the cruel treatment of George and others just for being different the movie doesn’t hold back. The love that George and his family have for one another is a stark contrast to the rest of the world around them, and the tragedies of war that surround it all. The movie is moving, and a reminder of the horrors of the past. It is nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster that makes you wish that generation had better access to therapy that everyone needed after living through the daily trauma it would have been just to survive.
Blitz isn’t an easy movie to watch at times. It shows loss and devastation beyond what most of us have experienced and puts into perspective what our grandparents and their parents may have experienced. But the horror is buffered by love, by hope, by the human desire for normalcy and a better future.
The movie takes you on an emotional journey through hell and back, all while teaching about the racial inequalities and injustices that were happening as part of everyday life in England at the time. And while the story may be set in 1940, it’s easy to draw parallels with things that are happening today and can be used as a warning against the extremism that seems to be on the rise again.
Blitz is now in theaters in select cities and will be airing on Apple TV+ on November 22nd.
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About Blitz
Sir Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to his mom and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.
Written and directed by Academy and BAFTA Award-winning McQueen, the film stars Academy and BAFTA Award nominee Ronan and newcomer Heffernan, with Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Weller, Stephen Graham, Leigh Gill, Mica Ricketts, CJ Beckford, Alex Jennings, Joshua McGuire, Hayley Squires, Erin Kellyman and Sally Messham rounding out the cast. McQueen’s Lammas Park produces alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer for New Regency, with producers Anita Overland and Adam Somner.
McQueen reunites with production designer Adam Stockhausen (“12 Years a Slave,” “Widows”), costume designer Jacqueline Durran (“Small Axe”), and composer Hans Zimmer (“12 Years a Slave”), with cinematographer Yorick Le Saux (“Little Women”) and makeup designer Naomi Donne (“No Time to Die”).