Prime Video Movie of the Day: James McAvoy and Keira Knightley star in a ‘delightful romance’ with seven Oscar nominees
Movie of the day
Every day we sift through the bottomless list of streaming options and recommend something to watch. Watch all our Prime Video movies of the day.
Nominated for seven Academy Awards and winning praise from critics worldwide, Penance is an exceptional film. Based on the book by Ian McEwan, it’s an epic, poignant and tragic love story set during World War II, and it not only features great writing, but some great performances too.
The guard it seemed like they were running out of superlatives: the review says the film is lush, spectacular, breathtaking, extraordinary, smart and compassionate, “a film that pursues big ideas and treats us like adults.”
Is Atonement worth streaming?
Certainly. It’s a film that absolutely thrilled the critics, with the legendary Roger Ebert saying that it “begins on cheerful gossamer wings and descends into an abyss of tragedy and loss”. Without giving away the plot, it is based on a misunderstanding and a lie by a teenage girl, and that lie has terrible consequences not only for her, but for others as well. The lie, says Ebert, “destroys all chances for happiness in three lives, including hers… How many films have we seen that fascinate at every moment and then, in the final moments, question everything that has gone before ? , one that forces us to think deeply about what betrayal and reconciliation can really entail?”
The war setting means the film delivers some visceral scenes such as NPR reports: “Joe Wright directs Atonement with an eye to framing each performance with spectacularly vivid imagery, including a truly breathtaking tracking shot on the bloody, wreckage-strewn beach of Dunkirk.” And the San Jose Mercury News said that “in the first 45 minutes, Penance achieves a kind of perfection that is rare even for major Oscar bait films. Every facet of filmmaking is the same as every picture released this year. The rest of the movie isn’t that bad.”
rich gave the film a full five stars – it is ‘complex, delicate and devastating’ and features ‘gorgeous cinematography, a lilting score and virtually flawless performances’ – while the film New York Times praised it as “a compelling, tear-jerking love story”. As novelist Ian McEwan told the newspaper: “It’s not often that British films look so beautiful. They usually have a kind of documentary feel. But this one has breathtaking landscapes and beautiful camera work.”