Quick synopsis: The story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II.

Something I don’t hide particularly well is that I am in general quite a cynical person (probably due to living in the UK in the 2020s teaching me that nothing good ever happens), I’m also not a fan of predictability in cinema, plus there have been so many films about the second world war that, to be honest, I’m kind of bored of them. We get it, it was the last time Britain was important on a global stage, plus it’s one of the few examples of war where there was one side that was undeniably evil and unjustified, so it makes good cinema. But my word, I’m bored of seeing it on screen.

So you’d think I would not really be a fan of this. But I have to admit, it got me. You know how it ends, there are no twists or surprises, and everything is incredibly obvious. But it’s so well made that it’s still effective. I’m glad I saw this at the cinema as it meant I could confirm that it wasn’t just me, the whole cinema felt emotionally affected by it. When the film ended and the credits started to roll, nobody moved. Normally you get people who stand up to go pee or beat the traffic, but when this ended, everybody in the screening stayed seated for a good minute. There were no angry mutterings, or even excited chatter, the only sound was the distinctive sound of everybody trying to hide the fact they were crying.

He seems to be doing a lot of schlock lately (Armageddon Time, Zero Contact, Transformers etc), but when you see a performance like this, it reminds you that Anthony Hopkins is a phenomenal actor. When I saw the trailer, I thought it would be a case of Hopkins just appearing at the beginning and the end, with the bulk of the narrative being flashback, and as such, the younger version of the character. I’m glad that’s not the case, we’re given enough of present-day Nicholas Winton that Hopkins is given a lot to work with. Johnny Flynn as the younger version of Winton? He’s okay. He mainly suffers from two things which he can’t control. One is that he’s playing the younger version of a character played by Anthony Hopkins, and it’s constantly switching between the two which means that comparisons between the two are inevitable. It’s difficult to give a good performance when you’re being compared to one of the best actors of all time. The other comparison is more in his control, but I don’t blame anybody for not making the comparison; Harry Enfield’s character Tim Nice-But-Dim. Once I noticed the similarities in vocal cadence, it became hard to take it seriously.

The other performers are all fine, but they obviously pale in comparison to Hopkins. Helena Bonham Carter does what she needs to, but could be replaced by a cheaper performer without affecting it too much. Samantha Spiro does an almost pitch-perfect imitation of Esther Rantzen, but is only seen for a few minutes. To see the similarities, you do need to watch the original clip online, which is weird as I thought they would have played it during the credits. It’s standard to show real-life photos of characters in biographies, and it doesn’t do that for this, which is a bit weird.

This isn’t a perfect movie though. I’m not sure the story has enough legs to justify a nearly two-hour movie, there was just enough for a one-hour television episode. The predictability also harms it, and it’s not that interesting from a visual or audio perspective. From a technical standpoint, it feels like there’s a lot of “well this will do”. The actual operation feels kind of underbaked as well, with the story focusing on the people in Britain who are in no danger.

To summarise; this a hugely emotional experience. It’s a good reminder that the people being helped aren’t soldiers, politicians, or anybody who had a choice in the war or where they live. They were just children who were at constant risk of being arrested and executed just for existing in their current location or as their current ethnicity/religion. It’s impossible to comprehend something similar in modern society.

Unless you’re Ukrainian

or Palestinian

or….