Darkest Hour

"Never give up. Never give in."

2017 2h 5m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 5,666

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.

“Never give up. Never give in.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Gary Oldman
Winston Churchill
Stephen Dillane
Viscount Halifax
Lily James
Elizabeth Layton
Ronald Pickup
Neville Chamberlain
Ben Mendelsohn
King George VI
Kristin Scott Thomas
Clemmie
Nicholas Jones
Sir John Simon
Samuel West
Sir Anthony Eden

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joe Wright
Writers: Anthony McCarten
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

265+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joe Wright, shot by Bruno Delbonnel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dario Marianelli. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Valerio Bonelli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Gary Oldman and Stephen Dillane and Lily James carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joe Wright directs. Bruno Delbonnel behind the camera. Dario Marianelli scores. Valerio Bonelli cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 5.0× over at the box office.
2Released 9 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
4265+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Joe Wright, shot by Bruno Delbonnel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Dario Marianelli. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Valerio Bonelli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Gary Oldman and Stephen Dillane and Lily James carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Never give up. Never give in.".
10IMDB entry: tt4555426 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "world war ii", "biography", "based on true story", "london underground".
12Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel
Original score: Dario Marianelli
Editing: Valerio Bonelli
Production design: Sarah Greenwood
Costume design: Jacqueline Durran
Makeup / hair: Jacqueline Rathore
VFX supervisor: Nicholas Bennett
Sound: Paul Carter
Stunt coordinator: Jamie Edgell
Runtime: 125 min · 2h 5m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $30,000,000
Box office: $150,847,207
Return: 503% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Darkest Hour (2017)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Academy Award for Best Actor
AACTA International Award for Best Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Joe Wright

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Mex51502018-01-14
★ 3/10
I have no idea why people are raving about this film, it's a bit crap, it's probably Oldman weakest performance to date, and the cinematography is terrible. Churchill with Brian Cox in the lead role is a FAR superior film on the subject.
Gimly2018-01-25
★ 6/10
As with many of the biopics I've seen recently, Darkest Hour is more focussed on delivering you the facts than getting you involved with the characters. It is an interesting idea to have the majority of the story revolve around the of whether or not to sue for peace. That as a core concept in so much as the question of "Do I take the guarantee of saving my country or do I take the risk of saving the world?" and beyond that "Is there even a right answer to that question? And who am I to decide something this big?" is a great philosophical centre for a movie. But I never felt like I knew why any of these people had the answers that they gave. I get that in a historical context, these aren't characters they are real life people, so they answers they had are the answers we see, but again, we are only given the what, not the why. Except you can throw all of that away because here comes Gary Oldman in his Oscar nominated transformation to make this movie 100% worth watching. Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.
barrymost2019-08-28
★ 7/10
It's 1940, and Hitler is attempting to take over Europe. The film takes an interesting look at Winston Churchill's first five weeks as Prime Minister. The acting in this movie is quite accomplished; good actors bring insight and depth to the characters. Overall, it's a well-done, engrossing film. Gary Oldman's performance as Winston Churchill was very good indeed, and his delivery of Churchill's speeches alone make watching the movie worthwhile!