Steve McQueen’s Blitz is no jaw-dropping masterpiece, but it’s still a haunting and heroic tale, brimming with great performances and surprisingly wholesome beats. Taking place during World War II in London, the film follows a young boy, George (Elliott Heffernan), in an odyssey of sorts after his mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan), sends him away for safety.
It’s understandably predictable at times, yet the familiar instants don’t diminish its strength. Instead, they provide an absorbing beat of comfort as the unconventional ending allows it to be a more palatable film. War thrillers aren’t for every consumer, and they certainly aren’t for young adults who can’t stomach all the gore. However, with a PG-13 rating, Blitz becomes a film that could serve as someone’s introduction to McQueen’s hauntingly significant style.
There’s one sequence in particular that feels like a visual triumph that ties this odyssey together, and it’s a shame the film goes straight to streaming with an incredibly limited run because this feels like something crafted for the silver screen. It reminded me of the visual blast that landed 1917 its Oscar nominations, and the quiet heartbreak that’s through a young boy’s lens is even more haunting in Blitz.
The film’s final thirty minutes are where its beating heart lies with harrowing sequences and quiet discomforts that eventually reunite mother and son, bringing the tale to completion.
Saoirse Ronan is one of the greatest actresses of our generation, and this much is always evident in Blitz as an eventual breakdown sears itself into the viewer’s gut and punctures with the force of countless shards of glass. Ronan is never the same character twice, and even where there are similarities, she finds intricate details to bring to the surface that’ll leave a mark. Her slow crumbling in the film is one of its most vital elements, followed closely by the impressive star power of Elliott Heffernan, who effectively holds his own and ultimately carries the film.
Blitz doesn’t revolutionize the war thriller genre by any means, yet the inclusion of racial prejudice alongside the sorrows of living during a war make it more remarkable. The characters become that much more familiar, reminding viewers that this exact heartache tragically still exists in 2024, even while people want to blissfully pretend it doesn’t.
Perhaps its most jarring detail is the time jumps that occur in the beginning, taking us from one arc to another in a way that’s essentially unnecessary. With performers this gifted, we could get the gist of the past without actually venturing there because it pauses the heightened emotions and crashes the tension that’s building up. It’s why the last act works best, as it intensely pulls on every emotional beat with explosive external forces at large, making it feel that much more evocative in the process.
Overall, Blitz is a film worth watching. While it might not garner the same success that films like it tend to, it’s still a stunning depiction of devotion and grit. Visually grand and well-written, it’s a story that delivers a powerful message, even if it’s one we might already be familiar with. As the years prove, human beings often need to hear the same things a few times before we genuinely process the enormous weight of them.
Blitz is now streaming on Apple TV+.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Apple TV+