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Early Buzz For Dunkirk Hints At A Different, But No Less Brilliant Christopher Nolan Movie

The first reactions to Dunkirk are beginning to trickle out, and they all heap praise on Christopher Nolan's "intense, heart-pounding" WWII epic.

Two weeks out from release, the first reactions to Dunkirk are beginning to trickle onto the interwebs, and they all heap praise on Christopher Nolan’s “intense, heart-pounding” WWII epic.

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Warner Bros. officially lifted the social embargo this afternoon, thereby opening the floodgates to a string of glowing, spoiler-free Tweets from some of the industry’s leading critics, who managed to catch an early screening of Nolan’s latest (and potentially greatest?) creative venture.

If you’ve somehow not seen any marketing material hitherto, here’s a refresher: Dunkirk centers on the historic evacuation of 1940, when 400,000 Allied troops were left stranded on the beaches of northern France. Surrounded by enemy forces, Nolan’s wartime epic unfolds on three fronts: land, air, and sea, and the filmmaker has spoken in the past about how Dunkirk‘s triptych storytelling template informs the experience. Visually speaking, the movie heralds a creative reunion with Interstellar cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, while Nolan’s right-hand man, Hans Zimmer, is the brains behind the film’s haunting soundtrack, which is already beginning to filter onto YouTube.

All of this and more is name-dropped down below, and there’s even praise for Harry Styles’ performance as Alex. It’s no secret that Christopher Nolan drew flak (and that’s criticism, not anti-aircraft fire) for his decision to cast the former One Direction star, but Nolan recently pointed to his unyielding faith in Heath Ledger as an example of trusting his instincts. And at least based on these reactions, the director has done it again.

https://twitter.com/aliciamalone/status/884458459827245057

At the forefront of the film’s cast is Fionn Whitehead as a young British soldier caught up in the maelstrom. He’ll be joined by Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh (Murder on the Orient Express), Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy.

Dunkirk deploys into theaters on July 21st, and if these knee-jerk reactions don’t convince you to see Nolan’s latest in IMAX, or even one of those 125 theaters screening the blockbuster in 70MM, nothing will.