The Trailer for Apple TV+'s 'Blitz' Frames the Horrors of War Through a Child's Eyes
Elliott Heffernan and Saoirse Ronan in "Blitz"
(Photo: Apple TV+)
Even if your knowledge of World War II history is spotty, you've almost certainly heard of the Blitz. This sustained eight-month bombing campaign saw German fighters commit mass attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities throughout Britain. London was particularly hard hit, getting bombed for over 50 consecutive nights in late 1940. More than 40,000 civilians were killed and the shape of the capital --- as well as many other cities throughout London. But many more also fled, and that's the story Steve McQueen's latest period drama Blitz intends to tell.
As the title implies, the film takes place during this period of heavy German aerial bombing, though it focuses on the wave of refugees who left their homes for supposed safety outside the U.K.'s crowded urban centers. Around a third of the population experienced some form of evacuation, many of whom were schoolchildren. As part of "Operation Pied Piper", the youngest and most vulnerable British citizens were sent to rural evacuation centers while their parents continued to work and contribute to the war effort.
Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun) stars as Rita, a distraught mother frantically searching for her son after sending him to the countryside. Newcomer Elliott Heffernan is George, a precocious nine-year-old determined to return home to his family in East London.
McQueen, whose previous work includes films like 12 Years a Slave and Shame, says he was inspired to write Blitz after discovering a monochrome photograph of a young Black boy evacuating with a suitcase while doing research for Small Axe.
“I just wanted to know who he was … what was his story?” he told Deadline.
Here's the film's synopsis.
Sir Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” follows the epic journey of George, a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to his mom and his grandfather Gerald in East London, embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.
Alongside Ronan and Heffernan, the film's ensemble cast also includes Kathy Burke (School of Roars), Benjamin Clementine (Dune: Part One), Stephen Graham (A Thousand Blows), Harris Dickinson (A Murder at the End of the World), Leigh Gill (Ronja the Robber's Daughter), Mica Ricketts (Here We Go), CJ Beckford (Riches), Alex Jennings (A Very Royal Scandal), Joshua McGuire (The Gentlemen), Hayley Squires (Great Expectations), Erin Kellyman (The Green Knight) and Sally Messham (The Hunt for Raoul Moat).
Written and directed by McQueen, the film reunites the Academy Award and BAFTA winner with production designer Adam Stockhausen (Widows), costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Small Axe) and composer Hans Zimmer (12 Years a Slave). Yorick Le Saux (Little Women) is cinematographer and Naomi Donne (No Time to Die) is make up designer.
McQueen's Lammas Park produces alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title Films, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, and Michael Schaefer for New Regency, with producers Anita Overland and Adam Somner.
Blitz will have its world premiere at this year's London Film Festival, followed by a limited theatrical run beginning November 1. It will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on November 22.
