A British drama starring Anthony Hopkins in a moving true story has just been added to BBC iPlayer. Directed by James Hawes, 2023 movie One Life follows British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, with the film alternating between two timelines.
Hopkins plays a 79-year-old Winton looking back on his past, while Johnny Flynn plays the young stockbroker at 29, just before the start of World War II.
Between 1938 and 1939, Winton helped 669 predominantly Jewish children hide and flee German-occupied Czechoslovakia, with One Life chronicling his efforts to save the kids before the Nazis close the borders.
Based on book If It's Not Impossible…The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton, One Life aired last night on BBC Two and is now available on iPlayer.
Cast for the film is rounded out by Lena Olin as Winton's wife, Grete, and Helena Bonham Carter as his mother Babette 'Babi' Winton, herself a German-Jewish immigrant to England.
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Also staring are Romola Garai as Doreen Warriner, an English Kindertransport humanitarian helping in Czechoslovakia, and Jonathan Pryce as humanitarian Martin Blake, who remains friends with Winton throughout his life.
Penned by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, One Life holds a Certified Fresh badge on Rotten Tomatoes, where it has a critics' score of 91% out of 150 reviews.
The movie has been hailed as "inherently powerful and moving" true story, with The Spectator advising viewers to grab a box of tissues for this tough, but ultimately hopeful watch.
"It's fine, in its workmanlike way. But the story is so inherently powerful and moving and there is so much goodness and decency at work it will set you off," the review reads. "Take a whole box of tissues if you want to play it safe and would rather not deploy your sleeve."
Elsewhere, the film has been described as a "handsome and soberly stirring period piece" (via The Daily Telegraph), with Hopkins' performance praised as "superb" (via Time Out).
One Life is streaming on BBC iPayer.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
