Darkest Hour

(Cert PG, 125 mins)

Photographs of Winston Churchill sticking up two fingers to the advancing Nazis during the Second World War became defining images of British defiance and solidarity.

The 27 tumultuous days, which led to Churchill’s impassioned cry for the British to fight on the beaches and in the streets, is elegantly dramatised in Joe Wright’s handsomely crafted character study.

Based on a script by Anthony Mccarten, this timely account of political hubris during bloodsoaked conflict is distinguished by a tourde-force performance from Gary Oldman.

Concealed behind layers of flawless make-up and latex, the Londonborn actor surely has one hand on an Academy Award for his mesmerising embodiment of the rotund statesman, who bore the weight of responsibility for evacuating more than 300,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk.

Oldman delivers Churchill’s public addresses with lip-smacking relish but it is in the film’s quieter moments, when the politician stares into the hollowed eyes of self-doubt, that his performance delivers knockout blows.

This is a timely lesson for politicians of every hue as we face a very different showdown with European neighbours.

★★★★★★★★★★

Kristin Scott Thomas and Gary Oldman.