Director, writer, and producer Steve McQueen brings his incisive real-world filmmaking back to his home city of London in “Blitz”, an impeccably well-made historical drama set in the early days of World War II during what many called “The Blitz”. Named after Germany’s Blitzkrieg, The Blitz was an eight-month period when Hitler’s Air Force unleashed a major bombing campaign over British cities. During that time over 1.2 million people were evacuated from ravaged British targets with more than half being children.

That bit of history sets the table for McQueen’s heart-rending story. After a truly harrowing four-minute opening that features firefighters battling raging infernos caused by German bombs, we’re introduced to the film’s two main characters, a devoted mother named Rita (Saoirse Ronan) and her good-hearted 9-year-old biracial son, George (Elliott Heffernan). Their unshakable bond is the emotional linchpin that secures McQueen’s story.

McQueen drops us into September of 1940. It’s only one year into World War II, but the impact of Hitler’s aggression is being felt all across England. Rita and George live in a London flat with her piano-playing father, Gerald (Paul Weller) who has a strong attachment to his dear grandson. But outside of their small but loving home is a much harsher and troubled world.

As the Nazi bombings intensify, Rita is convinced to send George to the countryside on a train full of other kids being evacuated. The two don’t part on the best of terms as the frustrated George shuts out his heartbroken mother. But as the train nears its destination, a remorseful George jumps off and heads off on an ill-advised adventure back to London in hopes of reconciling with his mother.

The majority of the story follows George’s dangerous journey which opens his young eyes to the terrible realities of his world. He meets an assortment of people along the way, some vile and opportunistic while others show much needed compassion. McQueen shows us both sides through George’s naive and innocent eyes which offers a raw and forthright perspective. Young Heffernan (making his feature film debut) is terrific, quietly conveying everything we need to understand what George is feeling. It’s a potent first performance.

As George tries to find his way home, Rita goes to work in a factory making bombs for the war effort. She also volunteers at a shelter for displaced locals. But once she gets word that George didn’t arrive with the other children, she sets out on her own mission to find her son. Ronan has always possessed a near effortless grace. Here she combines it with a fraught motherly intensity resulting in a warm yet steely performance that’s crucial to McQueen’s vision.

As “Blitz” moves forward, flashbacks offer some needed context and depth especially involving George’s father, Marcus (CJ Beckford). They’re well done and informative though not particularly original in where they go. And as McQueen is known to do, his film takes moments to examine racial prejudice. Some of the scenes are powerful while others feel framed for the audience rather than organic to the story. They can be a little too on-the-nose and even clumsy at times, lacking the storytelling finesse we’ve come to expect from the filmmaker.

But those are such small quibbles for a movie this stirring, heartfelt, and well crafted. Steve McQueen remains a fascinating filmmaker. With “Blitz” he embraces an old-fashioned classicism yet isn’t afraid to add his own creative flavor. His film is very much a lavish wartime drama, illuminated through the period-piece lensing of DP Yorick Le Saux. But as with most of McQueen’s projects, it’s a human drama at its core. There are moments of inspiration but even more that shatter us. And then McQueen hits us with something like the film’s Café de Paris nightclub sequence – the kind of technically brilliant and emotionally sobering scene that makes his movies must-see experiences.

VERDICT – 4 STARS