Directed by: Steve McQueen
Written by: Steve McQueen
Run Time: 2 hours
After a five-part anthology film series (Small Axe, 2020), a short film (Grenfell, 2023) and a documentary (Occupied City, 2023), revered British filmmaker Steve McQueen is back with his first feature-length narrative film since Widows (2018). Set in 1940 during WWII, Blitz follows single-mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan) and her nine-year-old son, George (Elliott Heffernan) as they prepare for his evacuation. But when George becomes lost in London during the Blitz, he must attempt to find his way home while his mother frantically searches for him.
McQueen’s latest film starts strongly, immediately immersing audiences into the utter devastation of war. His aggressive sound design launches an audible assault on viewers with its sheer volume and impressive detail. While his camera dives straight into the heart of the action. Then, an abrupt shift to the film’s main characters – Rita and George – at home in bed. This sudden change of tone is indicative of Blitz as a whole, blending intense action with melodrama throughout.
At its core, Blitz has a very simple plot: a son trying to find his way home to his mother. There’s real emotional power in how straightforward it is. Yet, its simplicity starts to get lost amongst the film’s abundance of subplots. As while George attempts to reunite with his mother he encounters a vast array of characters and obstacles along the way.
At first his journey home doubles as one of self-acceptance, especially through his experience with Benjamin Clementine’s compassionate air-raid warden, Ife – in which George begins to understand and embrace his own racial identity. It’s in this familiar and already-proven expertise in exploring themes of race that McQueen starts to really leave his mark with Blitz. However, with many subsequent, unrelated scenarios it quickly becomes far too episodic. With so many characters and situations being introduced back-to-back it becomes repetitive and loses its focus. Perhaps it would have fared better as a limited series, rather than a film.
Nonetheless, the pockets of action that occur throughout the story are all suitably thrilling. McQueen has great control over his direction in these moments, making the most of the film’s fantastic production design. The emotion at the heart of the story feeds into these tense set-pieces naturally, making them all the more gripping. It’s disappointing, then, that this emotional intensity isn’t carried through the entire film, only proving effective in moments – a tearful goodbye between Rita and George at a train station is particularly affecting – rather than as a whole.
Saoirse Ronan is on predictably good form here, effortlessly becoming the loving mother desperate to find her lost child. As the young George, newcomer Elliott Heffernan does similarly well, succeeding in both the demanding physical and dramatic requirements of his role. While disappointedly Harris Dickinson seems to be missing in action. He and Ronan exchange many suggestive looks, but ultimately they amount to absolutely nothing, making this a truly bizarre bit part for such a popular and talented young actor.
Thankfully, the remaining supporting cast are given much more of a chance to make an impression, most notably the aforementioned Clementine. While Paul Weller’s musically-inclined grandad aptly hits the right notes and Hayley Squires spirited factory worker proves also to be quite the scene-stealer. Conversely, Stephen Graham and Kathy Burke get the short straw. They play an odd couple of characters whose shady dealings would feel more at home in an Oliver panto than here in a straight-faced McQueen drama. Their whole section feels distinctly out of place and diverts the film for far longer than it should.
But this is Blitz‘s biggest issue, it just has too many ideas. As while McQueen offers a refreshingly diverse portrait of 1940’s London, he tries to explore too much of it within the limits of his runtime. In veering off in so many different directions the genuine emotion of his simple but effective mother-son story loses considerable impact. The prowess of his cast, and his undeniable technical skill save it from ever becoming a lost cause, and there are some moments of brilliance. But at best, Blitz only ever manages to be middling McQueen.
Star Rating: ★ ★ ★
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