Comparisons between sitting through 1917 and watching somebody else’s video game livestream are apt, not only because of the overcranked action and the thinness of the characterization and dialogue—or the way that the cameos by famous British actors serve as veritable “save points” in the story—but because Mendes’s mandate of “immersion” results in a frustratingly passive viewing experience.
— Adam Nayman (The Ringer)
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.