Atonement

A young girl's false accusation of rape against her sister's lover in 1935 sends him to prison and then into the army, tearing the couple apart. Years later, as he retreats with British forces toward Dunkirk in 1940 and she serves as a wartime nurse, the consequences of the lie continue to unfold.

The film's centerpiece sequence depicts the chaos of the British Expeditionary Force's retreat to Dunkirk in 1940, rendered in a famous long tracking shot across the beach amid stranded soldiers, wrecked equipment, and improvised evacuation efforts.

Based on Ian McEwan's novel; the characters are fictional, though the depicted Dunkirk beach chaos evokes the well-documented disorder of the evacuation.

With the British Expeditionary Force and French units cut off against the Channel, the Royal Navy and hundreds of civilian craft lifted the trapped armies off the beaches and mole at Dunkirk.

A German halt order and stubborn rearguard actions at Calais and along the Lys bought time. Over nine days roughly 338,000 British and Allied troops were evacuated, though nearly all heavy equipment was abandoned.

Directed by Joe Wright

Cast: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai

Positioned at 1935–1940 within the Home Front / Battle of France phase of the war, as part of the Battle of France. This is entry 3 of 150 in the chronological archive.

• Dunkirk evacuation
• Battle of France
• wartime nursing
• home front

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  Dunkirk

  26 May – 4 June 1940

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  Dunkirk

  26 May – 4 June 1940

• 

  Weekend at Dunkirk

  26 May – 4 June 1940

• 

  Darkest Hour

  10 May – 4 June 1940

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  Mrs. Miniver

  1939–1940

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  Their Finest

  1940–1941