When I was younger, I used to look at people who took a cup of tea into the cinema and think “Awww. When I’m that age…”. Turns out that age is 42. ANYWAY… we went to see #1917 and it blew my mind. Not particularly because of the subject matter or the realistic portrayal of an Owen-esque futility snapshot of 4 years of horrific, brutal and torturous slaughter, but because Sam Mendes and his amazing crew pulled off the one shot experience so well, making an incredible impact. I have never seen a film like it.

About thirty minutes in, putting the horror aside, I was buzzing about the lack of edit, the simply mind blowing choreography, the seamless tracking and imperceptible CGI. Geek fest that it was, I also absolutely bawled my eyes out. So steel yourself and take tissues. Sorry to the stranger sat next to me who had to tolerate my hiccupy bubble-of-snot heaving cries towards the end. I’ll never understand war. We have so many things to fight; disease, homelessness, inequality, climate change, natural disasters, yet we spend most of our time and resources fighting each other.

This film feels particularly poignant given our recent separation from the European Union and the stirring of a newly aggressive, roughshod patriotism that serves as nothing but a jail for the self. Go see 1917 and break your heart, then please fill the newly formed cracks up with compassion ❤️