The Story: It’s 1940 and the British troops are fleeing from France after a “colossal military disaster” as Winston Churchill so aptly put it. We see this evacuation unfold through three perspectives that unfold at different points on the timeline: from land, sea and air. On the ground, it begins one week before and follows soldiers trying to escape from Dunkirk beach. At sea, it starts the day before as a civilian ship captain is requisitioned into using his boat to sail to Dunkirk and rescue the soldiers. In the air, it goes right into the heart of the action – the hour of the rescue itself as British fighter plane pilots battle German bombers who are targeting the rescue boats.

The Verdict: This is a very “show, not tell” kind of film with little dialogue and it works really well as everything works off actions and emotions. The storytelling in Dunkirk extremely clever, the three timelines feature distinctly different types of soldiers and of course, at the end, these three threads come together and culminate in a very satisfying finale.

And the cinematography is drop-dead gorgeous. There are so many lovely shots of stretches of beaches or a wide vast ocean and lingering shots on characters as they witness major events that make you wonder what they’re thinking or what they’re feeling. Dunkirk boasts great acting all-around, from the steely, patriotic boat captain to the terrified soldier trapped in a sinking vessel searching for a spy.

However, what I found most interesting about this film was the fact that we didn’t see a single German soldier. The enemy isn’t an evil Nazi commander who appears throughout the film to torment and plot against our heroes or a constant stream of soldiers that the protagonists have to battle through in most war movies. We never see the enemy but we hear them in the ricocheting of the bullets, we feel their presence in the terrified gazes of the soldiers and we know the damage and destruction they cause. There’s also little to no blood in the action sequences, which makes it watchable for the scaredy cats who don’t like gore (like me!).

Rating: 5/5 Stars! (This movie is being nominated for the Best Picture Oscar with good reason.) Though, I watched this movie with my 15 year-old sister who watched it for Harry Styles and she didn’t understand some parts, especially when it skips between the time frames and without historical knowledge, it can be a little confusing because you’re not sure why people are doing this or that. Also, Harry Styles’ acting was pretty impressive.