My spoiler free review of Dunkirk

So...just got back from the screening at Pearl Harbor and have had a little time to gather my thoughts.

Wow. Christopher Nolan. What can I say? The man needs no introduction. All I can tell you is that he has crafted a film that just might be his undisputed masterpiece.

It is 1940 and more than 400,000 British, French, and Belgian soldiers are cut off on the beaches of Dunkirk, waiting for rescue or annihilation. Nolan uses a non-linear form of storytelling to advance the narrative along. While many here are probably used to Nolan's reliance on this technique, what he does here with Dunkirk is very unique.

Three different stories are being told at the same time. One on land, one on the sea, and one in the air. The events that take place on the land transpire over the course of a week, the events that take place on the sea transpire over the course of a day, and the events that take place in the air transpire over the course of an hour.

So that in one scene where we are with Harry Styles on the beach as night is falling, the very next scene will take place in broad daylight as Tom Hardy dog fights with German ME-109s several hundred feet above the English Channel....before returning to Harry Styles on the beach with darkness having completely fallen. And yet, despite the fact that these three narratives are all taking place at different times, they all come together at the end.

Needless to say....I see an Oscar nomination incoming for film editor Lee Smith.

As for the characters, you really never learn any of their names. There are no real character introductions, there are no backstories, there are no grand monologues about where Harry Styles or Cillian Murphy are coming from in their quest to survive and get home safely. Yet the acting is superb. As many of you have probably read, there is little dialogue in this movie. Most of the acting comes from these men's facial expressions as their characters deal with set-back after set-back.

Many people seemed disappointed when this film got a PG-13 rating instead of that highly wanted R, but there is a reason for that. This isn't a war movie per se. It's a survival film that just happens to take place in World War II. And Nolan really rams that home. There's no gore because he's not highlighting the horrors of war. He's simply telling a tale of men who want to get home.

I really loved this movie. I can't wait to see it again. I highly recommend it.

GRADE: A+