• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Movie Review – Journey’s End (2017)

February 1, 2018 by Freda Cooper

Journey’s End, 2017.

Directed by Saul Dibb.
Starring Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Asa Butterfield, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, Tom Sturridge, Robert Glenister and Miles Jupp.

SYNOPSIS:

In France in 1918, a group of soldiers under the command of a disintegrating officer, are given a mission by their Colonel which they’re told will help bring about the end of World War I.  The days count down as they await their fate.

R  C Sherriff’s WWI play, Journey’s End, first saw the light of day back in 1928.  Since then, it’s become a novel and has made it onto the screen a number of times, although its last big screen outing was in 1930.  In the year that marks the centenary of the end of the First World War, it’s back in cinemas in a new version with a powerful British cast.

The claustrophobic setting is a trench on the front line in France.  Soldiers all take their turn there, six days on the trot, whatever they may bring.  As the days tick away, one particular group of soldiers are given a mission by their Colonel: a select handful have to go over the top in a raid to bring back a German prisoner.  It’s a mission nobody wants, but they all know that somebody will have to do it.

Sherriff’s treatise on the brutality and futility of war has lost little, if any, of its original impact and director Saul Dibb (Suite Francaise) gives us a serious, sombre and deeply moving film, one that takes no prisoners.  The cost is terrible.  It re-creates the gloom and mud of the trenches to such an extent that you can almost inhale the stench but, most of all, you can touch and smell the fear that slowly builds towards the day of the raid.  And the clock ticks loudly by showing each date on the screen.

What the soldiers have to face is bad enough, but the situation inside the trench bristles with tension, mainly because of the unpredictable Captain Stanhope (Sam Claflin), who is slowly buckling under the pressure of looking after his men.  He puts on a good enough public show, encouraging them with a few well-chosen words, but he’s fooling nobody.  His volatile temper and love of whisky are common knowledge.  It’s easily Claflin’s best performance to date, showing what he can do when he’s given something he can get his teeth into.  His older and wiser second in command, Osborne, is known to the troops as “Uncle” and keeps things on an even keel when his superior officer simply can’t.  It’s another career best piece of acting, this time from Paul Bettany in a sensitive and compassionate performance.  The arrival of new recruit Raleigh (a fresh faced Asa Butterfield) nearly sends Stanhope over the edge: the idealistic young man is the brother of Stanhope’s girlfriend back home and he’s terrified she’ll hear about his behaviour.

Keeping the officers fed and on the receiving end of most of Stanhope’s insults – the food he has to prepare is terrible – is Mason (Toby Jones).  Most of the time, he emerges out of the shadows with something on a plate and then retreats back into the kitchen – when his polite mask drops.  Jones, as ever, is reliably excellent.  While those are the star turns, the acting amongst the entire cast is universally high, with the likes of Stephen Graham, Tom Sturridge, Robert Glenister and Miles Jupp all equally impressive.

Journey’s End is a powerfully emotional film, one that weighs heavy on your heart and leaves you subdued.  The final shot, an aerial view of the battlefield, is full of despair and the captions over the top leave you speechless.  What’s happened isn’t just futile, it’s incomprehensible.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

SEE ALSO: Check out our exclusive interview with Asa Butterfield here

Freda Cooper.  Follow me on Twitter.

Filed Under: Freda Cooper, Movies, Reviews Tagged With: Asa Butterfield, Journey's End, Miles Jupp, Paul Bettany, Robert Glenister, Sam Claflin, Saul Dibb, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, Tom Sturridge

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Overhated 2000s Horror Movies That Deserve Another Look

The 10 Best Villains in Sylvester Stallone Movies

Cinema of Violence: 10 Great Hong Kong Movies of the 1980s

Fantastical, Flawed and Madcap: 80s British Horror Cinema

Knight Rider: The Story Behind the Classic 1980s David Hasselhoff Series

6 Abduction Thrillers You May Have Missed

10 Great Forgotten Erotic Thrillers You Need To See

13 Underrated Horror Franchise Sequels That Deserve More Love

7 Underappreciated Final Girls in Horror

Six Overhated Modern Horror Movies

Top Stories:

18 Incredible 21st Century Films You May Have Missed

Movie Review – Superman (2025)

Crazy Cult 80s Movies You May Have Missed

4K Ultra HD Review – Quatermass 2 (1957)

Movie Review – Sovereign (2025)

“Dexter In Space” – Michael C. Hall talks 20 years of Dexter and where the killer will go next

Movie Review – Abraham’s Boys (2025)

Matilda Lutz is Red Sonja in trailer for long-delayed fantasy reboot

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

Cannon’s Avengers: What If… Cannon Films Did the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

In a Violent Nature and Other Slasher Movies That Subvert the Genre

The Essential One Man Army Action Movies

Revisiting the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket