Blitz had its premiere as the opening film of the BFI London Film Festival this week.
And so far the new British World War II movie from writer-director Sir Steve McQueen has garnered 91 per cent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Saoirse Ronan stars in the historical drama and as fans wonder if she will finally win an Oscar for her role, after four previous Academy Awards nominations.
The film’s official synopsis reads: “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.
Check out the mostly glowing review highlights below, which include a couple of five stars.
Daily Telegraph
A thrilling, moving, morally provoking odyssey through Britain at war, with a flock of vividly sketched supporting characters that buffet George from one adventure to the next.
Independent
It’s a period documented, honoured, and reinterpreted a hundred times on screen before. Yet it’s what [Steve McQueen] sees and how he sees it, as one of Britain’s most extraordinary filmmakers, that makes Blitz feel monumental.
Evening Standard
Blitz is a series of beautifully composed episodes, methodical rather than pacy.
Time Out
Its curiosity is its strongest suit, as McQueen’s script lays bare divisions that see working-class families barred from taking shelter in Tube stations, socialism taking root underground, and racism rife.
Observer
McQueen—a director who understands we can only look forward by looking back—gives us a new lens through which to examine WWII in this masterful film.
However, not all the critics were impressed by Blitz.
The Guardian
Rightly or not, I was looking for a more radical shock from this film or a more distinctive authorial challenge. Well, that isn’t the film McQueen wanted to make. Being unexpected is the artist’s prerogative.
BBC
The film is interesting and informative, but all those bomb blasts don’t leave you as shaken as they should.
Variety
What may take you by surprise, if you’re a McQueen fan, is what a shockingly conventional and middle-of-the-road Hollywood-style movie it is. Taken on its own terms, Blitz is well done, but it could almost be a Barry Levinson Oscar-bait movie from 1992.
Blitz is set to release in UK cinemas on November 1 before heading to Apple TV+ on November 22.