Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who) and Jack Lowden (Dunkirk) play Siegfried Sassoon throughout the ages in this dramatised biography from Terence...
Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who) and Jack Lowden (Dunkirk) play Siegfried Sassoon throughout the ages in this dramatised biography from Terence Davies (A Quiet Passion), capturing the poet's experiences with the First World War and how his devestating words ignited public discourse.
Sassoon (1886-1967), who was decorated for bravery on the Western Front, is best remembered for his angry and compassionate poems about the First World War, which brought him public and critical acclaim. Avoiding the sentimentality and jingoism of many war poets, Sassoon wrote of the horror and brutality of trench warfare and contemptuously satirised generals, politicians, and churchmen for their incompetence and blind support of the war.
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Where to watch Benediction
93 %151 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
65 %17 reviewsAudience score rating
"It's an elegant piece of filmmaking, if a little too decorous at times."
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Screen Daily
Screen Daily"Painfully tender..."
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IndieWire
IndieWire"It does eventually wind its way to a profoundly affecting conclusion."
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter"Piercingly sad..."
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The Guardian
The Guardian"The dialogue is quietly scathing, and the production values are sumptuous. But Davies seems most interested in Sassoon as a symbol of hemmed-in Englishness."
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The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail"Rhapsodic..."
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Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine"This is Davies’ second portrait of a sequestered poet... and his third film set against the backdrop of war... It might be the saddest and most tragic of the lot."
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Little White Lies
Little White Lies"Not every temporal shift lands...but at its best it's sublime..."
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Variety
VarietyBenediction | Details
- Rating
- 12A, images of real dead bodies, moderate sex references, injury detail
- Runtime
- 137
- Genre
- Drama, True Story & Biography, War
- Country of origin
- UK
