In Blitz, Steve McQueen takes us through a London prey to German bombing in 1940, but in the process seems to lose his narrative in a multiplication of plots and characters.

After his four-and-a-half-hour documentary Occupied City, released in 2023, Steve McQueen continues his World War II theme by shifting his focus from Amsterdam to London with Blitz. In the midst of the German air raid of 1940, Londoners try to maintain a semblance of daily life in a city increasingly in ruins. Among these Londoners are Rita (Saoirse Ronan), her son George (Elliott Heffernan) and grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller). Threatened by the increasing number of bombings, Rita sends George into the countryside for protection, but halfway through the journey, George jumps off the train and returns to London. So begins a quest by the boy and his mother to find each other again.

Although Blitz‘s premise seems straightforward, McQueen greatly complicates his narrative by introducing numerous characters on Georges’ path. But the interesting insights gained from this multiplication of characters also open up deeper issues. The filmmaker clearly states his intention to paint a fairly complete portrait of wartime London, and not just assert them as mere runners towards a shelter or relentless resistant type of population. The Londoners in Blitz carry on with their work, protest for the opening of shelters to all, or face deep-rooted racism when it comes to the black or foreign population. While some take advantage of the chaos for their illegal activities.

All this lends a human side to McQueen’s London, but it’s also clear that the many characters crossing Georges’ path are there only to push the narrative sentimentally or structurally, before being abandoned with little or no explanation. And that’s a real shame, because Blitz offers meaningful relationships when it takes the time to develop its characters, such as between Georges and Ife (Benjamin Clémentine), where a real chemistry is palpable. What’s more, this succession of plots, character introductions and abandonments lends an artificiality and a jagged rhythm to the film, where the two-hour running time makes itself felt. Yet McQueen certainly had some good ideas when he pursued this angle, such as the representation of blacks in London society during the war, or the criminal underworld taking advantage of the destruction of houses and stores to steal their contents, subjects often left out of filmic representations.

All of this is a real shame, as it’s apparent that Blitz is precisely crafted by its director in other areas, particularly the visuals. A real sense of composition and subtlety in the imagery is apparent in multiple shots such as the destruction of London and the death caused by German bombs. At several points, McQueen manages to place his camera at George’s level, switching fluidly between subjective and objective viewpoints, so that we understand what’s at stake through images rather than dialogue.

But the quality of the filmmaker’s composition does little to make up for the film’s problems residing in its foundations. One could go so far as to say that it’s a waste to give so little importance, screen time and development to characters portrayed by actors like Harris Dickinson or Stephen Graham. Right up to the last scene, it’s clear that Blitz aims to be realistic in its depiction of everyday Londoners, structuring its story as a journey through the dark and cheerful circles of London in 1940. But by multiplying points of view, we quickly lose focus on what is really at stake and where the film is heading. The documentary aspect clashes with the narrative obligations of a fictional production.

Of course, Blitz isn’t all doom and gloom. The directorial work and the immersion in the daily life of London in 1940, particularly for the black population, are sufficiently accomplished to make it a relevant work. But it’s clear that Steve McQueen is trying to tell too many stories at once, with too many functional characters at his disposal.