This effort also shows that Nolan doesn’t simply rely on established stars for his vivid characters, with great roles for then-newcomers like Fionn Whitehead and one Harry Styles.
If you thought you were going to be free of timey-wimey stuff in a war movie, think again. Nolan’s multi-strand account takes place over the course of a week, a day and an hour in the lives of its protagonists, a time dilation that slowly comes together as you watch the desperate British evacuation from Dunkirk’s beach and the Nazis. That keeps the tension at fever pitch throughout the threads set on land, in the air and at sea, and leaves every fate uncertain until the final moments. This effort also shows that Nolan doesn’t simply rely on established stars for his vivid characters, with great roles for then-newcomers like Fionn Whitehead and one Harry Styles.