Directed by Christopher Nolan (Inception; The Dark Knight; The Prestige; Insomnia; Interstellar) and starring Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies; the BFG; The Other Boleyn Girl; Twelfth Night), Barry Keoghan (Mammal; The Killing of a Sacred Deer; '71; Traders; Life's a Breeze), Tom Hardy (The Revenant; Inception; The Dark Knight Rises; Mad Max: Fury Road; Child 44; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Jack Lowden (England is Mine; '71; Tommy's Honour; U Want Me 2 Kill Him?), Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet; Henry V; Wallander; Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), Cillian Murphy (Inception; The Dark Knight; Perrier's Bounty; The Wind That Shakes the Barley; The  Girl with a Pearl Earring), Harry Styles (first feature).

Action drama; 106 mins; 16+

Christophe Nolan's latest film has been described as a "blockbuster" and an "epic". It is set in May-June 1940 and is set leading up to the evacuation of allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in northern France. Surrounded by the German army and with their backs to the sea, they have nowhere to go.

The director tells many interwoven and linked tales, of soldiers in the British and French armies, the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the sea, including both the British Navy and the by-now legendary flotilla or armada of small craft that sailed across the English Channel. A couple of young soldiers meet up on the beach at Dunkirk, being the only survivors from their units, and try to find a way off the beach amongst the hundreds of thousands of other soldiers already there. They survive a raid by Messerschmitts and discover one barely-alive soldier among the bodies and carnage, and manage to get him to a Red Cross ship at one of the piers. Hiding among the pier struts, they overhear Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branagh) and realise the gravity of the situation.

Meanwhile, three Spitfire pilots set out for the French coast and become embroiled in a dog-fight high in the skies - one of the most memorable scenes in the film is towards the end and features one of the pilots (no spoilers here...). Back in England, in one of the coastal towns, Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) is preparing to help the war effort and take his pleasure craft across the channel to help rescue the troops. His son is with him and so too is a young deck-hand (Barry Keoghan). They come across some of the horrors of the war on their way over to France.

Together, the component parts make an interesting story which is well stitched together in an atmospheric time-piece. Special effects are used, but there are kept to a minimum, ensuring that what the audience sees is as real as possible.

This film needs to be seen close-up - not from the back-row in the cinema - the audience needs to be immersed in the action-packed story, whether it be on land, on sea or in the air.