Review by John Delia
Thrilling and compelling the movie Behind the Line: Escape to Dunkirk puts you in the middle of a life and death situation. The production value depicting the initial battle, the barracks, jail and farm look very good. The storyline, although a work of fiction, shows another kind of battle to win freedom for a squad of British soldiers.
“It’s May of 1940 and Nazi Germany has invaded Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The British Expeditionary Force deploys to Europe. Soldiers dig in along the French Border and wait for commands.â€
The Nazi’s have moved a Panzer division close to where the British have occupied a fox hole and when the raid begins, only a few including Pvt. Danny Finnegan (Sam Gittins) escape to a farmhouse. Not long after they are overrun and taken to a makeshift jail nearby.
The area is run by Hauptsurmfuher Drexler (Tim Berrington) who is a fan of boxing. When he finds out that Finnegan was a world boxing contender before going into the service, he hatches a plan to get him to fight as the post’s entertainment and to impress his Rottenfuhrer Bartho Kraus (Patrick Capaloff Fowler). The boxing match takes a different turn and Finnegan finds himself about to face the most feared boxer in the world, Maximus Sennenhund (Joe Egan).
The story moves along at very good pace leading to some spying and setting up an escape plan. Director and writer Ben Mole puts on a good show and it is reminiscent of others I’ve seen, but not with the twist he provides to catapult his audience into a ring of death. He handles his actors real well and does a good job of making his story entertaining.
Behind the Line: Escape to Dunkirk has been rated TV-14 and contains brutality, war violence, grisly images and some language. Although it’s rated TV-14, it should only be viewed by mature audiences.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Definitely worth a watch. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Sam Gittins, Joe Egan, Ryan Winsley, Jennifer Martin
Directed and written by: Ben Mole
Genre: War
MPAA Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 1 hr. 27 min.
Opening Date: August 18, 2020
Distributed by: Trinity Creative Partnership
Released in: VOD, DVD, Digital platforms