From All Quiet on the Western Front to 1917, Dunkirk to Saving Private Ryan, explosive, sweeping epics about the First and Second World Wars have long had a reputation for winning Oscars—and now, it looks like the latest drama from Academy Award winner Steve McQueen, the soaring Blitz, is about to do the same.
Starring four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan; Beach Rats, Triangle of Sadness, and Babygirl breakout Harris Dickinson; music legend Paul Weller; This Is England’s Stephen Graham; The Crown’s Alex Jennings; I, Daniel Blake’s Hayley Squires; and newcomer Elliott Heffernan, it’s the heart-pumping tale of George (Heffernan), a nine-year-old boy caught up in the indiscriminate bombing of London during World War II, whose mother, Rita (Ronan), sends him to safety in the English countryside. When he fails to arrive at his destination, she embarks on a desperate search. George, meanwhile, defiant and determined to return home to his mother and grandfather, Gerald (Weller), in east London, sets off on an adventure of his own—and finds himself in grave danger, fleeing from crashing planes, collapsing buildings, and falling bombs.
The first trailer, released on September 19, ahead of the film’s world premiere at the London Film Festival on October 9, is as tense and awe-inspiring as you’d expect—crammed with terrifying depictions of aerial bombardment, raging fires, hollowed out homes, and flooded air raid shelters.
There’s also a prestigey gloss to the whole thing thanks to an exceptional, Oscar-winning behind-the-scenes team: production designer Adam Stockhausen, who collaborated with McQueen on 12 Years a Slave and Widows, and regularly works with Wes Anderson, is responsible for the stunning reconstruction of ’40s-era London; costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Pride Prejudice, Atonement, Anna Karenina, Little Women, Small Axe, Spencer, Barbie) has created the sharp skirt suits and tea dresses; and Hans Zimmer provides the rousing score.
Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait: Blitz hits the big screen on November 1, before landing on Apple TV+ on November 22. After that, it’ll be time to sit back, relax and watch the accolades roll in.
