Now THAT, was a cinematic experience!

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2020)

Watching this movie was exhausting, and I mean that in the best way possible because it was just gripping. It felt like you were right beside these soldiers who were taking you on journey through the haunting lands of the first world war. It was brutal. In the first 2/3 of the movie not once did I feel safe. I mean this literally as I thought my heart would give in. Even when the situation seemed calm, you never really felt safe. This was a massive achievement by the director because I rarely ever feel that way in a movie.
I've heard criticism about the lack of characters in this. On that front I'd have to disagree. I felt the character building was more than sufficient and very subtle at times as well. I remember watching Dunkirk which I didn't enjoy nearly as much as this due its decision to leave out any character building as I felt what they were going for wasn't nearly as effective as the accomplishments made by this movie.
I went to see this blind and I really recommend avoiding any spoilers or trailers for the full experience. This is definitely one of those movies you watch and think to yourself - "how have they even made this!?" I thought they were exaggerating when they said it was going to be just one shot but it really feels like that.
Performances were brilliant, I didn't know the cast going in and so I saw some short but lovely surprises, and Game of Thrones fans are also in for an interesting dynamic.
Roger Deakins is easily one of my favourite cinematographer (as I imagine is the same with many), and again I had no idea he worked on this movie going in. I knew i came out of cinema thinking I wanted to know who was responsible for some of the mesmeric shots I saw in this movie and I wasn't surprised at all when I figured out it was him. If you've seen his work, you know you're in for some delightful lighting.
I will say that I haven't given this a higher rating because I do feel like it is very much a ''cinematic'' experience. In other words, i don't feel like I would enjoy this movie nearly as much as I would on any other platform. A tiny nitpick for an otherwise massive accomplishment.