Pressure, 2026.
Written and Directed by Anthony Maras.
Starring Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, Damian Lewis, Con O’Neill, Tamsin Topolski, Henry Ashton, Michael Benz, Wil Coban, Joshua Hill, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Sebastian Orozco, and Max Croes.
SYNOPSIS:
In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice–launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.
Regardless of the historical accuracy that writer/director Anthony Maras’ World War II/D-Day course-altering weather report drama Pressure purports to adhere to, it doesn’t prevent the film (an adaptation of David Haig’s stage play) from falling into an overtly melodramatic trapping that consistently feels sweaty in its desperation to convince viewers this is an all-important story that needed to be told. It’s as if the stage play originated from a Dwight D. Eisenhower quote about the Allied forces having better meteorologists than the Germans, determined to heighten every piece of drama that came from whatever went on in the strategy room throughout the uncertainty of the weather conditions in the 72 hours leading up to the planned date for storming the beaches of Normandy as some misguided justification for the endeavor.
Perhaps the inherent theatrical quality of the story comes across more engaging on stage, but here, it comes across as what should have been a subplot in a World War II film unnecessarily extended to a feature-length runtime that loses much of its suspense given that anyone who passed a history course in high school, even if it was by the slimmest of margins, is aware of D-Day and how it went. Yes, new films about World War II require a fresh angle, even if no matter how much time passes, it will always be beneficial to reiterate history within media whether it be a cautionary tale or searching for modern day parallels (one could argue that it’s a look at how essential weather forecasters are beyond day-to-day life in a political climate where the best and most accurate of the bunch have been let go by an incompetent administration), but the weather report that altered the war, as this film is being advertised, is grandstanding probably even for enthusiasts to swallow. On that note, it’s a stretch to say that even the most ardent history buffs will find much interest or reward here.
What makes that frustrating is that whenever Pressure sticks to the Royal Air Force-adjacent decorated Scottish meteorologist James Stagg (a mild-mannered Andrew Scott and the spitting image of his counterpart going off of an Internet photograph comparison), who feels out of place in this war room as the calmest, most rational person in a room of other strategists, mindlessly optimistic that the weather will hold up for their war plans, there is some worthwhile tension in that he must find a way to break through to them with scientific data dictating that storms will be arriving. Within minutes, he develops a rival (as mentioned, everything here is escalated) in the form of U.S. Air Force meteorologist Irving Krick (Chris Messina), who insists that the planned invasion day will be sunny based on copious research into weather patterns. Having served as a weatherman for other important events and Hollywood films such as Gone with the Wind, Irving technically has a track record, but it’s also clear that much of it is due in part to good luck. The problem with his thinking is that patterns are like sports records; they exist to be broken.
Reporting to hotheaded General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brandon Fraser, fine for the most part until the role demands he starts shouting, something the otherwise talented performer can’t do without something like a goof and totally breaking immersion of playing a historical persona), the conflicting weather reports from James and Irving aren’t much help to a leader already dealing with heavy trauma from a D-Day dress rehearsal operation that ended in disaster. As such, “Ike” orders the two to work together and reach an agreement on their final presentation. When not addressing them, he is surrounded by aide and advisor Captain Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon), who is mostly here to ground Eisenhower about the unfolding uncertain situation.
This allows for quite a few scenes of the meteorologists verbally duelling over scientific opinions, which is admittedly entertaining to watch, as it is grounded in science, research, and data analysis, bringing forth theories, formulas, and arguments. Whether it could sustain an entire feature-length runtime remains a mystery, as Anthony Maras has saddled the film with additional baggage in a questionable effort to make it seem more expansive and encompassing than necessary.
Typically, that work comes with cinematography that slyly incorporates background windows, suggesting there is sunshine for now, while giving these scenes a blend of tranquillity and dread about the impending change in weather. Bluntly put, the film works best when it’s about trying to get gung-ho military strategic personnel to actually listen not only to the smartest person in the room but also to the one they brought in to make these level-headed decisions in the first place. Timing is of the essence, but one also gets the impression that they want to listen to Irving solely out of reckless optimism for battle.
Frustratingly, the melodrama doesn’t begin and end with the internal pain of Eisenhower, continuing with the fact that James’ pregnant wife, Liz (Tamsin Topolski), is about to give birth, with communications off limits, something that becomes more harrowing for him when he learns of an attack near her. It’s as if the film (and possibly the stage play) isn’t comfortable trusting that heated conversations about weather prediction methodology will be enough, which is ironic, considering that at one point James stresses that meteorology is an inherently interesting occupation. By the time the plot is forcing James to make up with Irving (who, quite frankly, does seem out of his depth on this one) for little reason other than the narrative calls for it, there isn’t pressure in the drama but rather airless convenience.
There is one surprise here in that the film attempts to depict an abridged, PG-13-friendly take on the early stages of D-Day, which, one could argue, is paramount to demonstrating the accuracy of the final weather report. In execution, it is sanitized and dry, seeming more like a prelude to a cloying ending about James’s personal life than to the war itself. Even with the caveat that there isn’t much here for a full-length narrative, Pressure doesn’t seem to trust James that people sitting around discussing the weather in a strategy room is compelling, and it’s worse off for it.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
