"You've got 400,000 men on this beach [in Dunkirk, France], pretty much within sight of England; the enemy closing in on all sides, and they were faced with really the choice between surrender and annihilation. And the fact that this story does not end in either surrender or annihilation is why, for me, I think it's one of the greatest stories in human history." – Christopher Nolan, Director

First shot: British soldiers are catching flyers that are falling from the sky, showing that they are surrounded. Next shot: artillery is used to fire jolting shots and you are running for cover with the soldiers. The opening scene of Christopher Nolan’s 2017 film, “Dunkirk” is similar to a roller coaster drop; you are thrown into a situation that you will never have enough time to prepare yourself for, but doing so provides you with the most authentic experience possible.

Whether you are watching the events surrounding Operation Dynamo unfold on land, in the sea or through the air, the portrayal of the fateful events that took place between May 26 and June 4, 1940 leave the audience breathless. Although World War II was far from over (in reality, it had only just begun) and the events could be viewed through a narrow lens as not one of Britain’s finest hours, it was quite the opposite. There was a truthfulness to the storytelling that made one thing perfectly clear when you left the movie theater: “Hope is a weapon” and “survival is victory.”

While it goes without saying, the cinematography deserves to be mentioned for its breathtaking ability to capture not only the panic written on all of the soldiers’ faces, but also for helping set the scene with the epic wide shots. For anyone considering seeing the film, it yearns to be viewed in IMAX. The feeling of complete engulfment is inescapable. The sense that you are with the soldiers, surrounded by flames in the water, or flinching as Spitfire planes seemingly come from every corner, never leaves you. To witness what can only be described as the closest representation of humans at their most desperate and final moments feels like an intrusion, yet it is something that ought to be seen by anyone who has reservations about the supreme sacrifices that these men made for their country.

“It’s very much about the spirit of people and how, when people come together, you can do incredible things.” – Harry Styles, “Alex”

Despite the almost nonexistent dialogue and the minimal context on who these characters were beyond their duties, the ensemble pulled together to present an honest look at the many roles that humans can play throughout their lives. Seasoned veteran Mark Rylance plays the role of British responder, Mr. Dawson, and shines amongst a cast of largely new-comers. While on a superficial level, his character appears as the “mentor”, Rylance taps into an understated rawness that he allows to burst out in the most natural moments. He just wants to bring boys home, like he was unable to do for his one son, and Rylance helps bring to the surface the qualities that exist in Mr. Dawson and every parent: fiercely loving and devotedly protective of children.

Likewise, the on-screen father-son dynamic of Mr. Dawson with his son, Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) offers an unspoken verity; boys became men in a matter of seconds during these unthinkable events. It was in these moments that their fathers had to let go of them and hope that they would not lose themselves entirely in the process, which is seen in an exchange between Rylance and Glynn-Carney’s characters when the latter has the choice of inflicting emotional pain on a PTSD-suffering soldier (Cillian Murphy) who unintentionally killed Peter’s friend, a young responder, George (Barry Keoghan). Peter chooses to protect the soldier from the truth that George died from the inflicted injuries, and there is a significant moment when Mr. Dawson realizes that his son is no longer a boy, and he nods in recognition to the transformation.

Another aspect of the film that will likely be overlooked, regretfully, is the battle that occurs in the sky. Away from land and their fellow man, the Royal Air Force endeavors to protect the skies as the National Socialists press down on the Dunkirk beach. As three Spitfire pilots, Farrier (Tom Hardy), Collins (Jack Lowden) and an unnamed third, approach Dunkirk, it becomes clear that these men will likely not survive as they rapidly decline in fuel and time ticks ever-presently against them. However, these men, and evidently many others, successfully take down an enemy plane, though they suffer their own fates in different ways.

Although the unnamed pilot is shot-down by a Luftwaffe plane, Collins' Spitfire is fired upon and ultimately crashes into the sea, and Farrier lands, only to be voluntarily captured by the enemy, there is still hope. Hope that despite Farrier’s certain fate at a prisoner of war camp, he saved the lives of countless soldiers by preventing the bombing of the majority of the boats at Dunkirk, and that these men would go on to save the lives of countless others. Moreover, the most powerful scenes in the film are when Farrier flies over the men, receiving applause from the soldiers and Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branagh), the highest ranking officer on the beach, and when he sets fire to his plane so that it cannot be used by the enemy. There is not a single moment as haunting as when a look of pride and acceptance of his fate cross Farrier’s face, and he allows himself to be dragged away from the flames and into uncertainty.

The value of casting newcomers should not be overlooked, either. Oftentimes in films we see actors who are much older than the characters that they are portraying, but that is hardly the case in “Dunkirk.” On the land, we see young soldiers Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), Gibson (Aneurin Barnard) and Alex (Harry Styles), who are out of their depths when it comes to coping with the reality that they may never make it home. Barnard has the most acting experience of the trio, “Dunkirk” being Whitehead and Styles’ breakout film, but they each project uncertainty, which provides an authenticity in the high-pressure, high-emotion moments when they are forced to make decisions that men who exceed them in age by decades are not prepared to make. Each of the characters, despite possessing a similar role as British Army privates, reveal the different stages of human nature. The innocence that is assumed naiveté in Tommy is in reality someone fighting against his most base instincts, whereas Alex embraces those instincts when he discovers that Gibson is actually French, and he prioritizes the latter’s life as lesser than the British soldiers.

What resonates the most is that these characters could be anyone; your brother, father or grandfather, and the beauty of the lack of insight into their lives is that they remain untouched. They represent something more abstract that is difficult to comprehend, but is best understood as the many types of the human condition. More so, there is no “one-above-the-rest” actor in Nolan’s film, but rather a group of storytellers committed to reminding us that the human spirit is capable of overcoming great adversity. In one of the final scenes, Alex believes that they will be spat at on the streets because they “failed.” As the story comes to an uncertain close, though, we see that these men are viewed as heroes while welcomed home by citizens and applauded for their bravery, and once more, the concept of what a victory truly means is challenged.

“When 400,000 men couldn't get home, home came for them.”