World War II · Film · 2017
Darkest Hour
In his first weeks as Prime Minister in May 1940, Winston Churchill faces the collapse of France, an army trapped at Dunkirk and colleagues who want to ask Hitler for terms.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 6 places.
Stop 1: Palace of Westminster
Neville Chamberlain loses the confidence of Parliament, and his party turns, without enthusiasm, to Winston Churchill.
Stop 2: Buckingham Palace
A wary King George VI receives Churchill and asks him to form a government.
Stop 3: Cabinet War Rooms
Key location
In the underground bunker beneath Whitehall, Churchill follows the collapse of France on the map and clashes with Halifax over talks with Hitler.
Stop 4: Calais
Churchill orders the besieged British garrison in Calais to fight on without hope of rescue to buy time for Dunkirk.
Stop 5: Dunkirk
With the army trapped on the coast, Churchill pushes for civilian boats to join the rescue.
Stop 6: House of Commons
Churchill faces the Commons to explain what happened in France and what Britain will do next.
What really happened
Churchill became Prime Minister on 10 May 1940, the day Germany attacked France and the Low Countries. Within two weeks the British army was cut off at Dunkirk, and between 25 and 28 May the War Cabinet argued over Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax's proposal to explore Italian mediation with Germany. Churchill carried the day after rallying the wider Cabinet on 28 May, and on 4 June told the Commons that Britain would 'fight on the beaches'.
The film compresses these weeks faithfully in outline but invents key moments. Churchill's ride on the London Underground, where ordinary passengers urge him to fight on, never happened, and his typist Elizabeth Layton only joined his staff in 1941. Chamberlain and Halifax are also painted as more openly scheming than the records of the Cabinet debates suggest.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Darkest Hour
- Directed by
- Joe Wright
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 2017
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Politics
- Biography
- True story
