Darkest Hour

Newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill faces intense pressure from within his own government to seek a negotiated peace with Nazi Germany as France collapses and British troops are trapped at Dunkirk. Isolated and doubted, he must rally political will and public resolve to continue the fight.

Churchill became Prime Minister on 10 May 1940 as Germany launched its invasion of France and the Low Countries, and in his first weeks in office faced War Cabinet debates over possible peace negotiations with Hitler via Mussolini, ultimately resolving to continue fighting as the Dunkirk evacuation unfolded.

The War Cabinet debates and Churchill's rhetoric are grounded in historical record, though a scene of Churchill canvassing opinion on the London Underground is a dramatic invention.

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: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn

Positioned at 10 May – 4 June 1940 within the Battle of France phase of the war, as part of the Battle of France. This is entry 27 of 150 in the chronological archive.

• Winston Churchill
• War Cabinet
• Dunkirk evacuation
• appeasement debate

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  Atonement

  1935–1940

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  Dunkirk

  26 May – 4 June 1940

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  Dunkirk

  26 May – 4 June 1940

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  Weekend at Dunkirk

  26 May – 4 June 1940

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  Their Finest

  1940–1941

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  Mrs. Miniver

  1939–1940