The film builds its mounting prospects of calamity and clashes of dissension with polish and gumption, avoiding many of the dull notes normally saddling most other behind-the-war-room yak-fests.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 7, 2024

Joe Wright offers up compelling and timely lessons on conviction, persuasion, and the power of bipartisanship – all things our current governments could learn from.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 20, 2022

Stirring though the proceedings may sometimes be, Darkest Hour resists absolute immersion so that its audience will notice how much effort went into its making.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 16, 2022

Saying no to the devil after walking through the valley of the shadow of death for two hours should get a bit more love.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 29, 2021

Joe Wright's tireless camera seems incapable of plunking itself down where ever you expect it to - oh no he's over there, to the side, or swooping in god like, bomb like, from above. The movie's all the better for it

| Jul 14, 2021

From the 4-star lead performance from Oldman to the expert direction from Joe Wright, Darkest Hour is a rousing success.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 8, 2021

It's a film that delivers you everything you'd expect from it, handsomely produced, confidently crafted and risk-free.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 29, 2021

Darkest Hour marries the mythological Churchill alongside the romantic fantasy of a righteous war.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 31, 2021

Oddly, Lily James' Elizabeth Layton, a typist, is given a considerable amount of screentime, though her role is entirely extraneous.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 5, 2020

The movie could be better. But Oldman's turn is indeed the kind of flamboyant transformation that wins little golden men.

| Oct 19, 2020

The truth is that only Oldman's performance here truly matters.

| Original Score: 2.5/4.0 | Sep 5, 2020

Gary Oldman delivers what could be his finest hour, becoming Winston Churchill to declare, "You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth!"

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 3, 2020

There is no doubt, had it not been for Oldman and the visually stunning composition of the film, Joe Wright's prelude to Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk could have been a completely different film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 19, 2020

[It] serves no purpose other than to galvanize awards voters and rack up its own army of golden little men, an effort that won't be spoken about when awards season ends.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 23, 2020

Oldman is so good that he almost masks the rest of the film.

| Original Score: B | Jul 17, 2020

It is a chamber biopic, in which we witness the bureaucratic decisions of a Winston Churchill who has been masterfully played by Gary Goldman, who, without a doubt, offers one of the most memorable performances of his career. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 27, 2020

Make-up does not a performance make, as is proved by Darkest Hour.

| Jun 3, 2020

It may be history, but Darkest Hour doesn't feel like homework. It's vibrant, thrilling, and intriguing all at once.

| May 20, 2020

It's definitely watchable.

| May 14, 2020

Gary Oldman is fantastic.

| May 14, 2020