Interstellar is forgiven. Go see this.

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2017)

War is hell. You're shocked, I know.
Film has no hesitation in reminding you that notion for nearly a century, especially those taking place against Nazis. Ever since they axed Hitler, Hollywood is so bent out of shape in exploiting this tired- ass setting by giving us a whole spectrum of good-to-meh WW2 movies.It's like they're exhaustingly transparent, offering us the same level of gunfights, bleeding, "hoo-rah"s, and the obligatory message mongering about the same damn words "war is hell" and "Nazis are bad". PRIVATE RYAN, HACKSAW RIDGE, FURY - bunch of others I forgot. It's all extremely tiring to an extent, no matter how good they turn out.
So, to my bewildered face, leave it to Christopher Nolan to up the ante and refresh this tired subgenre into something brutally engrossing and secretly clever. Nolan strips all the extra fat and BS from the resulting picture, leaving us into the fray in some of the most harrowing events in the battle of Dunkirk. It's exhilarating as much as it is depressing, constantly keeping me at the edge of my seat.
The films biggest accomplishments is how it acorporates theme of time into the main machinery of the film. Hanz Zimmers score imbues ticking sounds to crank up the intensity for each time these characters try to survive. The film plays with the timeline with three scenarios (Aircraft: 1 hour/Seaboat:1 day/ Land: 1 week) and jumps in between them with carful and enticing etiting skills. Each character finds ways to either kill enemies or run away with depleting resources or low morale. Say what you will about Nolans cinema trickery, but it works when it works. He's constantly remind you that the biggest threat amongs our worn out soldiers besides Nazis is time itself. This his tinkering feels earned and smartly used without blowing up into pretentiousness (see Interstellar)
But all of that would not mean a damn thing without the performances. With barely any dialogue, we get the clear sense of what they feel just by looking at these guys. Kenneth Branaugh brings out the most dignified performance as a general who struggles to keep his composure. Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy work wonders with their demons of desperation and paranoia respectively. The soldiers, more specifically Harry Styles, never once feel out of touch and shows a lot of the hell they've put up with perfectly. And finally Mark Rylance is just magnificent as always in bringing out the heart and humbleness in his character.
A lot of criticism of Nolans other work points out his lack of focusing on human emotions. I'd say this is finally a break of this mold. As the film slowly reliefs us of the hell that was the battle of Dunkirk, were treated with a finale that's not only a huge relief, but also a slimmer of joy. Soldiers cheering and civilians offering gifts and Rylance assuring the soldiers brace duties. It's like Nolan found something worth embracing for the first time in what seems like forever. Seriously that ending almost got me chocked up.
DUNKIRK is a bravura of "war is hell" imagery reworked in what it should feel like in the first place. As I sat there while the lights opened up during the credits, I stopped and finally said "shit, I agree."
This is a corker, folks. Don't miss it.