Skip to main content
Film of the Week: Benediction
MARIA DUARTE recommends a touching biopic of poet Siegfried Sassoon, whose life was forever changed by the horrors of the first world war
Terence Davies explores the complex life of World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon, played by Jack Lowden (right)

Benediction (12A)
Directed by Terence Davies

REVERED filmmaker Terence Davies examines the turbulent life of first world war poet Siegfried Sassoon, who became renowned for his poetry outlining the horrors of the war and his affairs with other men, in this visually compelling yet profoundly affecting drama.

Jack Lowden gives a powerfully understated yet wonderfully nuanced performance as the young, troubled Sassoon, who returns home from service a decorated hero but acutely critical of the government for prolonging the war for its own ends.

Following his public anti-war stance and his refusal to return to the front, he is sent to a military hospital in Scotland for psychiatric treatment for shell shock. There he meets fellow poet Wilfred Owen (Matthew Tennyson) and a sweet relationship — mainly the meeting of minds — ensues.

The film also explores Sassoon’s love affairs with famed composer and matinee idol Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine) and the outrageous socialite Stephen Tennant (an unrecognisable Calum Lynch from Bridgerton) along with his struggles in coming to terms with his homosexuality.

This ends in him marrying and having a family with Hester Gatty (played by Kate Phillips and Gemma Jones).

Full of exceedingly witty and razor-sharp dialogue penned by Davies, the dramatic scenes are intercut seamlessly with montages of horrific images of WWI, including real dead bodies, bringing into stark relief Sassoon’s poetry as you hear it recited in all its poignant force.

It also moves from the young Sassoon to his old embittered self, portrayed by Peter Calpaldi — which takes getting used to, particularly as they sound nothing alike — who has taken out all his frustrations on his long-suffering wife (Jones).

The film depicts in painful detail the misery Sassoon endured throughout his life, broken by the horrors of the war, and not being able to be himself and love who he wanted freely, as well as his never-ending pursuit of redemption, salvation and self-acceptance as he turned to religion and Catholicism.

Mournful and haunting, Davies pays a fitting tribute to Sassoon — the war poet, and the complex man.
 

In cinemas

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You can read five articles for free every month,
but please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.
More from this author
IMPECCABLE: Benicio Del Toro as  Zsa-zsa Korda and Mia Threapleton as his daughter Liesl in The Phoenician Scheme
Film of the week / 22 May 2025
22 May 2025

MARIA DUARTE is in two minds about a peculiar latest offering from Wes Anderson

hallow
Film of the week / 15 May 2025
15 May 2025

MARIA DUARTE is gripped by a tense drama set almost entirely in a car as distressed parents try to rescue their wayward daughter

Treading Water / Pic: IMDb
Film of the week / 24 April 2025
24 April 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends a tough love story that unfolds among mental health issues, drug addiction and inadequate housing

THE PERILS OF INTERNET DATING: (L) Ruaridh Mollica in Sebast
Cinema / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sebastian, Four Mothers, Restless, and The Most Precious of Cargoes
Similar stories
Laibach play Islington Town Hall, February 22 2025
Attila the Stockbroker Diary / 7 March 2025
7 March 2025
The Bard encounters Laibach’s revival of their 1987 album Opus Dei, and is stirred to verse
VALENTINE'S DAY BLUES: (L) Memoir Of A Snail; (R) Bridget Jo
Cinema / 13 February 2025
13 February 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE review Cottontail, Memoir of a Snail, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and Captain America: Brave New World
(L) Nightbitch; (R) Porcelain War
Cinema / 5 December 2024
5 December 2024
Horror for young mothers and Western presidents, a one-legged wrestler and weaponised art; the Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Nightbitch, Rumours, Unstoppable and Porcelain War
(L) Juliette Gariepy in Red Rooms; (R) Morfydd Clark in Star
Cinema / 5 September 2024
5 September 2024
Yorkshire chills, tangled in the dark web, pregnancy diaries and brackish juice: MARIA DUARTE reviews Starve Acre, Red Rooms, My First Film and Beetlejuice