Directed by: Andy Goddard
Written by Eddie Izzard, Celyn Jones, and Andy Goddard
Starring James D'Arcy, Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard
Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes
Rated PG-13
In theaters March 26

by Victoria Potenza, Staff Writer

Six Minutes to Midnight takes place during the summer of 1939, right before the start of World War II. There is a coastal boarding school in England where the Nazi elite sends their daughters to receive finishing classes before coming home. The school is run by Miss Rocholl (Judy Dench) and Ilse Keller (Carla Juri). As tensions mount and the threat of war seems imminent, British intelligence sends an agent undercover as a teacher to see what sort of intel on the Nazis they can obtain. When this agent goes missing, they send Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard) to take his place. He learns that the Nazis plan to bring the girls back home before the war begins, and it is his job to prevent them from getting them. But not everything is as it seems, and it is hard for Mr. Miller to know who he is able to trust.

The film is directed by Andy Goddard who’s resume mostly includes television direction (Downton Abbey, Carnival Row, Torchwood) and the story is from Celyn Jones and Eddie Izzard. Being a huge fan of Eddie Izzard and not having seen anything that she wrote I was excited for what this film would be. Unfortunately, this film was a rather lackluster viewing experience across the board. With so much crew from the television world it makes somewhat sense that there was something lacking as far as a cinematic experience. Perhaps this would have been better served as a miniseries, it would have given more breathing room and time to establish its characters which would have made it more interesting. For a film about a boarding school there seems to be very little for the majority of the students to do, making it a little harder to truly understand how they felt about their experience.

Another aspect of the film that made it hard to truly get on board with was the overall stakes. If the girls stay in England they will be kept as prisoners of the state and if they go back they will be in Nazi territory. Although the British are meant to be the good guys, capturing a bunch of young girls for the good of the war is still hard to get behind. Knowing little about the girls it also made it hard to know what staying or going would ultimately mean for them. Were they scared of being part of the Nazi high order? Did they enjoy being in England? These small unanswered questions would have made it easier to know how to empathize and feel for these characters.

The acting overall was good. Eddie Izzard is always great although there was little humor for her to engage with, which is typically her strong suit. Even the dark humor of Hannibal made her a perfect casting choice. Judy Dench is the one character that you feel some emotional stakes with. She cares about the girls even if they are technically part of the Nazi high order and she is able to care for them without the judgment that others might have. She is able to see them as the young girls they are. Carla Juri is also such a great presence in film. She gave such strong performances in Blade Runner 2049 and the indie horror film Amulet. Although her character does not feel entirely flushed out she still gives a terrific performance. Jim Broadbent is also such a wonderful character, his small role as the bus driver was ultimately my favorite part of the film.

Six Minutes to Midnight had some interesting bits of lesser known historical stories but did not know exactly how to present them. History is so much more complicated than we would like to believe, and there is much more grey area than we would like to believe. Trying to tell these stories with a nationalistic viewpoint and not engaging with the grey area makes it that much harder to really engage with the story. This ends up being the ultimate problem with this film and makes it questionable why this is a story we need to tell.