Pressure
Director: Anthony Maras
Starring: Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon
Genre: Might Fight Dwight
Pressure is a clever title for an interesting film.
Set in the lead-up to D-Day in World War II, Pressure (2026) is very factual and surprisingly accurate to a very large extent. So, describing the story below won’t spoil the viewing experience.
Britain’s then chief meteorological officer James Stagg, who was impressively played by Andrew Scott, cleverly and scientifically stuck to research and facts. He forecast whether or not D-Day should happen as scheduled due to the predicted barometric pressure which would lead to lots of rain, wind and big waves on the English Channel. Lots of internal pressure and arguments between the weather forecasters and the Allied military leaders occurred as a result, especially with Dwight ‘Ike’ Eisenhower, commander of the then Allied Expeditionary Force and later President of the USA.
Ultimately, Stagg justified his position and D-Day was rescheduled and successful, despite around a third of the Allied military being killed or very badly injured.
Historical purists and documentary lovers would think the film is awesome, and it is very impressive. However, from an entertainment perspective it’s neither as intense nor as compelling as legendary films such as Casablanca (1942), Schindler’s List (1993) or Oppenheimer (2023).
The movie was also very popular and well received at the Sydney Film Festival back in June. Indeed, there are lots of obscure, strange and interesting film festival films and upcoming general release movies worth exploring – the Japanese Film Festival is happening in Sydney from 17-29 November. See you there!
Rating: Three D Days
