1917

Two young soldiers are told to cross no man’s land with an order that will stop a battalion walking into a trap. Mendes stages the errand as one long take, so a cut would feel like a rest they do not get. George MacKay’s Schofield is the one who has to finish it. The towns, the river, and a song in a wood are obstacles with people in them. The Universal trailer is the trench and the flare. The film is a message that is only useful if it arrives before morning.