Official Trailer
Our Review
- Peter Capaldi, Gemma Jones, Jeremy Irvine
- May 20th 2022
- Terence Davies
Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi play famed war poet Siegfried Sassoon at two different stages of his life in this biographical drama.
While many of us may have heard of the name Siegfried Sassoon or be familiar with his poems, only a few may know anything beyond that – and that’s where Benediction comes in.
Terence Davies’ biographical drama begins in earnest in 1917 when Sassoon (Jack Lowden) becomes a vocal critic of World War I after returning from service.
He is sent to a psychiatric hospital over his views and befriends fellow war poet Wilfred Owen (Matthew Tennyson).
Following the war, the film follows Sassoon in London’s literary and theatre scene and his affairs with various high-profile men, including actor/songwriter Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine) and socialite Stephen Tennant (Calam Lynch).
Peter Capaldi plays an older version of Sassoon, a very bitter and grumpy man who has converted to Catholicism.
Except for a small scene with Capaldi towards the start, he is saved for the third act.
It was important to include scenes demonstrating...
