Outstanding character study

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2020)

A movie that proves that the best efforts are those that can take a unique story and build it around outstanding character development. A carefully crafted film with outstanding cinematography. It draws you in immediately and keeps one engrossed throughout the ordeal of two soldiers sent on a high risk mission to deliver a vital message.
It never exceeds the bounds of good reason, and stays sharply focused throughout. The amazing achievement is magnified by the knowledge that it sought to tell the entire two-hour narrative in a single take.
Only at the very end is something extremely personal and poignant revealed, as the lead statement in the end credits. This film is loosely based upon the personal experiences of Lance Corporal Alfred H. Mendes, the grandfather of the director Sam Mendes, who crafted this film.
The film does not try to be a documentary, but instead uses a blank canvass to weave a compelling story of intense personal interest. The audience is heavily invested in the fate of these two soldiers.
That the effort was a labor of love was obvious throughout the film. That it was a valentine sent by a grandson to his grandfather only becomes clear at the end, but by no means does it surprise anyone. That's how beautiful the story is, showing intense courage amid vast carnage. Somehow the film manages to weave love and horror together, without failing to show proper respect for each.
In that measure, the film achieves perhaps a singular impact, worthy of all the awards it rightly earned.