If you want to watch a movie that will have you at the edge of your seat for two hours, this is the one for you. 1917 is a beautiful film for a variety of reasons. But the main 2 reasons that I would like to convey in this review would be the acting and the cinematography.

The first reason this film finished so beautiful is the acting! Oh my goodness was the acting in this film impressive. For context this movie is two hours long and only cuts twice. This means that there are two hour long takes. And boy oh boy did George Mckay knock it out of the park. His acting kept me engaged for the entirety of the runtime. I won’t spoil the movie but there is a scene where an important character dies and Georges character keeps the same stock yet timid posture he has kept the whole movie but he somehow adds a layer of grief and hopelessness into the performance. I have nothing but good words for the performances in this movie.

The second reason that I wanted to talk about this movie is the cinematography. The director of this film Sam Mendes knew what he wanted this movie to be. It is clear within the first 20 minutes that this movie is one of the greatest achievements in cinematography history. Mendes somehow creates beautiful shots from the same camera between just two cuts. This movie is so stunning and hard to look away from which in it of itself is an achievement but to do this with a one-shot! Absolute mastery and complete creative control was necessary and I’m glad Mendes got it.

To conclude, 1917 is a beautiful film. I found little to no faults in this film and would strongly recommend it for its cinematography and performances. I have nothing left to say except that I hope more one shot films come out soon because of the ride that this was. I give 1917 an A!