World War II · Film · 2007
Atonement
A 13-year-old's false accusation on a summer night in 1935 tears apart her sister and the housekeeper's son, and five years later the war carries him to the beaches of Dunkirk and her to a London hospital ward.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 4 places.
Stop 1: Tallis estate, Surrey
On a hot summer day at a country house, young Briony misreads what she sees between her sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner.
Stop 2: Bray-Dunes beach
Key location
Wounded and separated from his unit, Robbie walks across France and reaches a beach crowded with men waiting for ships.
Stop 3: St Thomas' Hospital, London
Briony trains as a nurse and tends the wounded arriving from France while her guilt keeps growing.
Stop 4: Balham, London
Briony visits Cecilia's flat in south London to ask for forgiveness.
What really happened
Adapted from Ian McEwan's novel, the war half of the story follows the retreat of the British Expeditionary Force in May 1940. Cut off by the German drive to the Channel, soldiers made their way on foot across Flanders to the coast, where about 338,000 British and French troops were taken off between 26 May and 4 June.
The film's famous five-minute tracking shot on the beach at Bray-Dunes, east of Dunkirk, captures the chaos of units waiting to be evacuated, with abandoned vehicles and horses shot to deny them to the Germans. In London, trainee nurses such as Briony prepared hospitals for the wounded who flooded back from France.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Atonement
- Directed by
- Joe Wright
- Countries
- United Kingdom, France
- Languages
- English, French
- Released
- 2007
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Romance
- Home front
- Combat
