Time is of the essence in the second trailer tease for Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.
Coming to us by way of Warner Bros.’ official Twitter feed, if nothing else, the blink-and-you’ll-miss it promo is a pointed reminder of the film’s sheer scale, which is set to recount the remarkable, death-defying tale of Operation Dynamo. Set during the height of World War II, Nolan’s true-life epic is a far cry from the fantastical (and often otherworldly) vistas of Interstellar and Inception, but the director’s eye for scale, practical special effects, and labyrinthine plots remains intact.
Case in point: Dunkirk‘s triptych storytelling format, which is essentially a narrative framework that will allow Christopher Nolan to tell the Miracle of Dunkirk through the lens of three principal characters situated across land, air, and sea. Tom Hardy’s fighter pilot is one such protagonist caught up in the gruelling fight for survival, while Fionn Whitehead’s fresh-faced British private is the closest thing to an audience surrogate. He’s “just a kid,” as Nolan stressed in a previous interview, and Dunkirk will no doubt leave Whitehead’s soldier staring down the horrors of war.
Featuring over 400,000 troops, 933 ships and countless stories of heroism, the Miracle of Dunkirk is widely considered to be one of the most historic rescue missions of World War II, and we can’t think of a director more suited to such an extraordinary, true-life event than Nolan.
Dunkirk reports for duty on July 21st, when Nolan’s latest (and potentially greatest?) will be tethered with a PG-13 rating. As for that aforementioned trailer reveal, check back with We Got This Covered on Friday, May 5th at 9am PT (12pm ET/5pm GMT).