one life movie reviews

Supported by

‘One Life’ Review: One Man’s Rescue of Children in Wartime

A British stockbroker quietly saved hundreds of lives by arranging for children in Prague to escape the Nazis by leaving for foster homes in England.

Share full article

A white-haired man in glasses, sitting at a desk, flipping through a large bound volume.

By Ben Kenigsberg

When Nicholas Winton died in 2015 at 106, his obituary in The New York Times noted that, for decades, he had been startlingly reserved about what he achieved at the outbreak of World War II in Europe. Between the Munich Agreement in 1938 and Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939, Winton organized a rapidly moving operation that saved 669 children, most of them Jewish, by transporting them from Prague to Britain, where they were placed with foster families.

The rescue didn’t receive wide public attention for 50 years, partly because, as the biographical feature “One Life” depicts, Winton (played by Johnny Flynn as a young man and Anthony Hopkins in scenes set later) was reluctant to acknowledge his heroism. In trying to capture this almost stoic modesty, the film, directed by James Hawes, falls into a dramaturgical trap.

“One Life” is really two movies. It looks back on the wartime actions from 1987, when Winton considers what to do about a scrapbook of photos and documents he has kept. Flashbacks to the 1930s open a window on his plan to locate Jewish children in Prague, secure visas for each of them and find them temporary families in Britain. Time, financing and bureaucracy loomed as stubborn obstacles.

The procedural complexities, and Winton’s efforts to gain the trust of the children’s parents, are compelling enough. They throw down a moral gauntlet to viewers, who must put themselves in his shoes. The motives of Winton, a British stockbroker and socialist with German-Jewish roots, are portrayed as pure altruism.

By contrast, the 1980s thread — which builds to Winton’s appearances on the BBC program “That’s Life!” in 1988 — might have played discretely as a portrait of mental compartmentalization. But intercut with the weightier wartime scenes, this strand comes across as slight and, unlike Winton, self-congratulatory.

One Life Rated PG. Running time 1 hour 50 minutes. In theaters.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Andy Serkis, the star of the earlier “Planet of the Apes” movies, and Owen Teague, the new lead, discuss the latest film in the franchise , “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”

The HBO series “The Sympathizer” is not just a good story, it’s a sharp piece of criticism on Vietnam war movies, our critic writes .

In “Dark Matter,” the new Apple TV+ techno-thriller, a portal to parallel realities allows people to visit new worlds and revisit their own past decisions .

The tennis movie “Challengers” comes to an abrupt stop midmatch, so we don’t know who won. Does that matter? Our critics have thoughts .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime and Hulu to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Election 2024
Entertainment
Newsletters
Photography
Personal Finance
AP Investigations
AP Buyline Personal Finance
AP Buyline Shopping
Press Releases
Israel-Hamas War
Russia-Ukraine War
Global elections
Asia Pacific
Latin America
Middle East
Election Results
Delegate Tracker
AP & Elections
Auto Racing
2024 Paris Olympic Games
Movie reviews
Book reviews
Personal finance
Financial Markets
Business Highlights
Financial wellness
Artificial Intelligence
Social Media

Movie Review: Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn find poignant synergy in real-life war tale ‘One Life’

This image released by Bleecker Street shows Anthony Hopkins in a scene from “One Life.” (Bleecker Street via AP)

This image released by Bleecker Street shows Anthony Hopkins in a scene from “One Life.” (Peter Mountain/Bleecker Street via AP)

Copy Link copied

By the time Nicholas Winton died in 2015 at the ripe age of 106, the former London stockbroker and self-proclaimed “ordinary man” had been widely recognized for his extraordinary deeds — rescuing 669 Jewish children from the Nazis, saving them from certain death.

But for most of his life, Winton’s rescue of those children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, bringing them to safety in Britain, was unknown to the public. His story was revealed dramatically on the BBC show “That’s Life!” in 1988, which introduced him, in an emotional surprise, to some of the very people he’d saved. Tears were shed and a fuss was made over this unfussy man. He was dubbed the “British Schindler,” and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.

Even if you didn’t know Anthony Hopkins was starring in “One Life,” the straightforward yet still moving new drama based on Winton’s tale, you’d be forgiven for assuming it the minute you learned Winton was a modest and quiet elderly man, keeping much to himself. Hopkins can play such a character in his sleep.

What he’s truly great at, though, is that moment when he finally lets the wall around him crumble and shows what he’s been feeling all along. Yes, this happens in “One Life,” and yes, you’ll likely be wiping tears along with him. The emotional payoff takes a while to arrive, but once it does in the last act of this film, you’ll have a hard time forgetting Hopkins’ face.

FILE - Outgoing Czech President Milos Zeman listens to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a press conference after talks at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, on Jan. 30, 2023. Former Czech President Milos Zeman was released from hospital on Wednesday, april 3, 2024 following surgery for a blood clot in his leg. Miloslav Ludvik, director of Motol University Hospital in Prague said Zeman, 79, will now recuperate at home. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

Holocaust-themed movies are crucial but notoriously tricky ventures. At Sunday’s Oscars, Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” was honored for a hugely inventive approach , illustrating the banality of Nazi evil in its chilling portrayal of an Auschwitz commandant’s family life right outside the camp wall. “One Life,” directed with efficiency by James Hawes, takes a much more traditional approach, telling its story in flashback with dialogue that sometimes borders on the overly expository, but with a lovely cast and a story that begs to be told.

Hopkins is the key draw, but Johnny Flynn, the talented actor-musician, has the difficult task of channeling Hopkins as a younger man (the filmmakers chose to shoot the Hopkins scenes first, so that Flynn could then build the connective tissue between the two, something he does admirably.) And it’s a lot more than 50 years that separate the two versions of Winton. It’s the war itself. The events with younger Winton took place in 1939, as the Nazis were marching across Europe but two years before they began implementing their so-called Final Solution, the mass murder of European Jews. The elder Winton knew exactly what became of all those children he couldn’t bring to safety, and you can see it in his eyes here.

We first meet the elder Winton at home in Maidenhead, a town in southeast England. It’s 1987, and he’s staring at faded photos of children from the war. He spends his days involved in local charity work. He can’t seem to get rid of all the clutter in his study, despite the pleadings of his wife, Grete (Lena Olin), who tells him: “You have to let go, for your own sake.” He’s still trying to figure out what to do with a frayed leather briefcase, which contains a precious scrapbook full of war memories.

We flash back to 1939 London, when 29-year-old Nicky, as he’s known, who is of Jewish descent but has been raised as a Christian, resolves to leave the comfortable home he lives in with his mother, Babi (Helena Bonham Carter), to travel to Prague. He aims to help with the growing crisis caused by the influx of refugees from the Sudetenland region just annexed by Germany; he and others fear (correctly) that the Nazis will soon invade and send the Jewish refugees to camps.

In Prague, he finds desperate families and starving children, like a 12-year-old girl caring for an infant who has lost its parents. “We have to move the children,” he tells his colleagues. They say the task is too daunting. He persists, convincing a local rabbi to give him lists of children to begin the process (“I’m putting their lives in your hands,” the rabbi tells him.) Upon his return to London, aided by his spirited mother, he embarks on a furious race against time and government bureaucracy to obtain visas for the children and raise awareness in the media. “The process takes time,” an official says. “We don’t have time,” he replies.

Somehow, he manages to get the transports going, meeting the trains in London, where children are matched with foster families. (The most moving scenes in the film, until the emotional crescendo at the end, are departure scenes in Prague, with children saying goodbye to parents who must surely sense they’ll never see them again).

As the film toggles between 1939 and 1987-88, we learn that Winton managed to get eight trains of children out but not a ninth, with 250 children who were turned back once the Nazis invaded, a loss he keeps buried inside. That is, until he he meets a Holocaust researcher who happens to be married to news magnate Robert Maxwell.

That meeting ultimately leads to the climax in the television studio, faithfully recreated by Hawes, who actually once worked on that very BBC show. The scene is doubly poignant given the knowledge that some of the background actors in the studio that day were actual family members of those Winton saved. “There was not a dry eye on the set floor,” the director has said.

That’s not difficult to believe.

“One Life,” a Bleecker Street release, has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association “for thematic material, smoking and some language.” Running time: 110 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
The Last Stop in Yuma County Link to The Last Stop in Yuma County

New TV Tonight

Interview With the Vampire: Season 2
Spacey Unmasked: Season 1
After the Flood: Season 1
Bridgerton: Season 3
Outer Range: Season 2
The Big Cigar: Season 1
Harry Wild: Season 3
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Season 11.1
RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars: Season 9
The Killing Kind: Season 1

One Life Reviews

"One Life” has superior production values and is rich with visual and historical detail. Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn are extraordinary, and they are supported by a terrific cast. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by what happens.

Full Review | Apr 27, 2024

The unfussy film-making lets Hopkins do his thing. This is an actor who can summon crushing sorrow from just stillness and silence.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 26, 2024

The details of pre-WWII are vividly rendered and the flashbacks, flash-forwards are effectively done. A perhaps forgotten chapter in history is recreated with much power.

Full Review | Apr 26, 2024

Anthony Hopkins plays Nicholas Winton, an Englishman who saved hundreds of Jewish children from dying in concentration camps in 1939 and, despite this, does not see himself as someone particularly deserving. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 19, 2024

It’s nice when Hollywood occasionally makes a movie about an ordinary but good person and that’s the case with One Life.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Apr 16, 2024

It is a profound tribute to the belief that heroism lies within us all, resonating as a beacon of hope and action in today's times.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 11, 2024

Winton’s wartime heroism and its emotional toll on him decades later, told in two time frames. His is an extraordinary story, with a strong payoff and stellar performances by two-time Oscar winner Hopkins and a star-studded supporting cast.

Full Review | Apr 4, 2024

It's a story worth telling and re-telling — and also one worthy of a more comprehensive treatment than One Life.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Apr 3, 2024

One Life works very well -- an impeccable period reconstruction, an emotional classic narrative, and a vindicating message illuminating the altruism of a man who had everything and chose to risk it all to help others. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Mar 27, 2024

Sir Anthony Hopkins, in a massively nuanced performance, allows audiences inside Nicky's head and world rewinding history to the moment his life changed forever

Full Review | Mar 25, 2024

James Hawes directs the film within the margins of a BBC 'quality' production. Nothing against that, but when he defies them, the film grows, and, yes, there you can liken it to Spielberg's 'Schindler's List'. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 25, 2024

What director James Hawes tells is very transcendent, but he does it academically with a tendency towards the conventional... What is difficult to ignore is the presence of the now-elderly Anthony Hopkins. [Full review in Spanish]

If “One Life” does anything well, it is stressing the importance of bureaucrats behaving like human beings, not as indifferent agentic state actors who do not feel personal responsibility when acting on behalf of a grander authority

Full Review | Mar 24, 2024

Anthony Hopkins continues to bless us with one amazing performance after another.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 24, 2024

One Life is n example of historical storytelling that doesn’t need artificial drama to get its points across—the truth is dramatic and moving enough. Hopkins' and Flynn’s performances beautifully blend to paint a nicely crafted portrait.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 23, 2024

Nicholas Winton is an example of what a monumental humanitarian effort can do, as quoted in the film’s post scripts, “If you save one life, you save the world.” Hopkins’ and Flynn’s passionate performances more than illuminate that message.

Full Review | Mar 23, 2024

Despite the fact that this film's narrative is like a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth between 1988 and 50 years earlier, it works well. All the flashbacks provide context to the rescue operation, and to the continuing legacy of that operation.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Mar 22, 2024

Among the recent spate of WWII dramas about ordinary people who did extraordinary things...James Hawes’s One Life, a British film, is one of the best.

Full Review | Mar 22, 2024

It shows the legacy of heroes who champion life’s dignity in a world that often cheapens it.

Full Review | Mar 21, 2024

A true tearjerker presented with clarity and sincerity.

Full Review | Mar 20, 2024

International edition
Australia edition
Europe edition

Reluctant hero … Anthony Hopkins as Nicholas Winton in One Life.

One Life review – Anthony Hopkins in extraordinary true story of ‘British Schindler’

Hopkins stars as Nicholas Winton, who rescued 669 Jewish children from the Nazis – alongside Helena Bonham Carter on mighty form

Y ou’d need a heart of stone not to be touched by this extraordinary true story of Nicholas Winton, the “British Schindler”, and by the simplicity and heartfelt directness with which it’s told by screenwriters Nick Drake and Lucinda Coxon and director James Hawes. It’s a story of wartime Europe and postwar memory, and also a noble and inspired moment in the history of British popular TV.

Anthony Hopkins plays Winton, a stockbroker in prosperous retirement in the 1980s who, after some nagging from his wife Grete (Lena Olin), is clearing out clutter and finally concentrates on something he’s been yearning and dreading to re-examine: a scrapbook with details of the 669 Czech Jewish children he and other humanitarians saved against incredible odds from the Nazis in the late 30s, without any historian knowing. This involved raising money, badgering government departments for visas, organising foster care; his own Kindertransport in fact. Johnny Flynn plays Winton as the young pro-refugee activist and Helena Bonham Carter packs a mighty thespian punch as Flynn’s formidable no-nonsense mother Babette, who runs his campaign from London.

The rescue mission involved nine trainloads of children, all of which have to pass through Nazi territory on their way to Britain. These are scenes of almost unbearable tension: at any moment, for any bureaucratic reason, or just for no reason at all, the Nazi soldiers suspiciously inspecting the children’s papers on board the train could turn them back. Eight trainloads get through reasonably well, due to their rescuers’ British national status in this prewar time – but the ninth is still on the platform at Prague when news of Germany’s invasion of Poland comes through. Swaggering Nazi soldiers swarm into the station and anguish and horror is imminent; this is the tragedy that colours Winton’s memories.

After the local press failed to get interested in this remarkable document, it caught the attention of Elisabeth Maxwell, wife of Robert; and from there it passed to Esther Rantzen (played here by Samantha Spiro), host of the legendary popular show That’s Life! Rantzen invites him to the show twice, in a This-Is-Your-Life-type surprise, and on the second occasion, secretly contrives for every single other member of the studio audience to be either one of these grownup child refugees or a descendant. It was a goofy, almost silly caper which could have gone wrong or turned out to be misjudged; instead it was a moment of secular grace, like something from a late Shakespeare play. The film does justice to this overwhelmingly moving event in British public life in a quietly affecting drama.

after newsletter promotion

Drama films
Anthony Hopkins
Helena Bonham Carter
Johnny Flynn
Esther Rantzen

Most viewed

an image, when javascript is unavailable

‘One Life’ Review: Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn Spotlight the Selfless Deeds of ‘the British Schindler’

A stirring biopic covers two eras in the long life of humble British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton, who helped organize transports saving some 669 Czech and Slovak children in 1939.

By Alissa Simon

Alissa Simon

Film Critic

Scottish Filmmaker Lynne Ramsay Honored by Reykjavik’s Stockfish Fest 1 month ago
Shooting Stars Presents Up-and-Coming European Actors at Berlinale 3 months ago
‘My Love Affair With Marriage’ Review: A Humorous But Hard-Hitting Animation for Adults About the Thing We Call Love 5 months ago

Popular on Variety

As the ever-modest Winton would have wanted, the film is careful to share the credit for the evacuation transports and host family placements. While he ultimately organizes and raises money from the UK, we see (albeit barely characterized) Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai), head of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia in Prague, and Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp), a former school teacher, doing dangerous work on the ground in the Czech capital.

While the tense, action-oriented 1938-39 timeline is inherently more compelling because of the race to get all the moving pieces (the trains, the visas, the host families, the £50-per-child bond, medical certificates) in place to transport the children out of Prague before the Nazis enter and the borders close, the 1988 section is slower and more contemplative. Nearing 80-years-old and urged by his wife Grete (Lena Olin) to reduce some of his store of papers, Winton, who never told his family about his role in saving so many refugees, wonders what lessons the scrapbook documenting his work might offer to a wider public.

Strangely for a script based on the book “If It’s Not Impossible” by Winton’s daughter Barbara, the portrayal of Nicky’s Danish-born wife strikes an off-key note. Rather than a much-loved support, she comes across as a critical, neatnik nag. Plus, the miscast Lena Olin, almost unrecognizable under a bad wig, looks so much younger than Hopkins that one might first assume that she’s his daughter.

Why did Winton never discuss his heroic acts prior to 1988? The film sidesteps the question, but shows that its protagonist considers himself an ordinary man whose lifelong values dictate his actions. As we see when he meets his old friend Martin (Jonathan Pryce), the man who urged him to go to Prague in the first place, they are from a generation that rarely speaks about the past, much less the traumas they have seen or endured.

This, in part, is what makes Winton’s two appearances on “That’s Life!” so emotionally stirring. The past deeds that he has so long ignored reap a harvest of feelings guaranteed to draw a tear from even the hardest of hearts.

Shooting on location in both the U.K. and Czech Republic, helmer Hawes and his collaborators create strong period looks for each timeline, giving them each their own natural rhythm. Ace editor Lucia Zucchetti moves seamlessly back and forth between them while Volker Bertelmann’s attractive piano and orchestra score is never overbearing.

Reviewed online, Sept. 10, 2023. In Toronto, BFI London film festivals. Running time: 110 MIN.

Production: (U.K.) A See-Saw Films Production. (World sales: FilmNation Entertainment, New York.) Producers: Joanna Laurie,Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Guy Heeley. Executive producers: Simon Gillis, Eva Yates, Barbara Winton, Maria Logan, Anne Sheehan, Peter Hampden.
Crew: Director: James Hawes. Screenplay: Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake, based on the book “If It’s Not Impossible” by Barbara Winton. Camera: Zac Nicholson. Editor: Lucia Zucchetti. Music: Volker Bertelmann.
With: Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce, Helena Bonham Carter. (English, Czech, German dialogue)

More From Our Brands

Publishers send cease-and-desist to spotify over unlicensed content, home of the week: an $18 million brooklyn townhouse designed for an art-loving couple, roku-mlb highlights free sports streaming as fubo, others dive in, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, how to watch the streaming-only academy of country music awards, verify it's you, please log in.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘one life’ review: anthony hopkins is in peak form in a stirring, if by-the-numbers, period piece.

James Hawes' historical drama about the effort to save children from the Holocaust co-stars Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Flynn.

By Leslie Felperin

Leslie Felperin

Contributing Film Critic

Share this article on Facebook
Share this article on Twitter
Share this article on Flipboard
Share this article on Email
Show additional share options
Share this article on Linkedin
Share this article on Pinit
Share this article on Reddit
Share this article on Tumblr
Share this article on Whatsapp
Share this article on Print
Share this article on Comment

Full credits

Thr newsletters.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

‘fantastic four’: natasha lyonne joins marvel movie, donnie yen to star in ‘john wick’ caine spinoff movie, ariana grande and cynthia erivo soar in full ‘wicked’ trailer, china box office: ‘furiosa: a mad max saga’ cleared for release (exclusive), ‘wild diamond’ review: a stylish but familiar french debut observes perils of influencer culture, ‘the strangers: chapter 1’ star madelaine petsch talks shooting an entire trilogy in 52 days.

UK Edition Change

UK Politics
News Videos
Paris 2024 Olympics
Rugby Union
Sport Videos
John Rentoul
Mary Dejevsky
Andrew Grice
Sean O’Grady
Photography
Theatre & Dance
Culture Videos
Fitness & Wellbeing
Food & Drink
Health & Families
Royal Family
Electric Vehicles
Car Insurance Deals
Lifestyle Videos
UK Hotel Reviews
News & Advice
Simon Calder
Australia & New Zealand
South America
C. America & Caribbean
Middle East
Politics Explained
News Analysis
Today’s Edition
Home & Garden
Broadband deals
Fashion & Beauty
Travel & Outdoors
Sports & Fitness
Sustainable Living
Climate Videos
Solar Panels
Behind The Headlines
On The Ground
Decomplicated
You Ask The Questions
Binge Watch
Travel Smart
Watch on your TV
Crosswords & Puzzles
Most Commented
Newsletters
Ask Me Anything
Virtual Events
Betting Sites
Online Casinos
Wine Offers

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in

One Life review: Anthony Hopkins’ performance as the That’s Life! hero is better than the film that surrounds him

The actor recreates sir nicholas winton’s famous chat show appearance – but this flashback-heavy tale of the british humanitarian who facilitated the rescue of 669 jewish children otherwise struggles, article bookmarked.

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey

Get our the life cinematic email for free, thanks for signing up to the the life cinematic email.

A great actor shouldn’t only be judged on what they can do with a masterful script, but also on how they can take a lesser work and still let it soar. Anthony Hopkins has achieved this with grace in One Life , a somewhat thin, reductively sentimental retelling of the life of British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton , which its star has empowered with raw, much-needed complexity.

Screenwriters Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, meanwhile, find themselves torn in two by conflicting impulses. On the one hand, they’ve been compelled to tell the story of a man who overcame needless, restrictive bureaucracy, and an apathetic home nation, to rescue 669 mainly Jewish refugee children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Alongside Doreen Warriner and Trevor Chadwick, Winton facilitated their escape on a series of eight Kindertransports , which eventually brought them to the UK and the homes of local sponsor families.

Johnny Flynn does an admirable job of depicting the stammering, quiet resilience of a younger Winton in the film’s substantial flashbacks. We see him, at work in Prague, with Warriner (Romola Garai) and Chadwick (Alex Sharp), while his mother Babi (Helena Bonham Carter) oversees the operation’s London branch. Director James Hawes, transitioning over from television, translates these events to screen with appropriate, ever-thrumming terror. Haunting photographs of children, whose futures rely upon paper visas and wooden train seats, stare up from paper-clipped documents. We see them wrenched from their parents, their names scribbled on pieces of card placed around their necks.

It’s in the film’s primary narrative, though, that Coxon and Drake struggle, despite Hopkins’s transformative work. We visit an older Winton, in 1987, at home in Maidenhead with his wife Grete (Lena Olin), hemmed in on all sides by boxes of old memories. She pushes him to sort through the mess, and it’s here that he discovers a scrapbook filled with photographs of the children who made it to the Kindertransports. It eventually ends up in the hands of Elisabeth Maxwell, wife of Czechoslovak-born newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, who puts into motion Winton’s famous 1988 appearance on Esther Rantzen’s That’s Life! – in which the presenter surprised him with an audience filled entirely with those he’d saved and their descendants.

It’s a self-evidently poignant scene (though hardly as much as the real thing), yet the film’s narrow, near-obsessive focus on rewarding Winton’s humility both lessens the profundity of his heroism and plays too conveniently into populist British cinema’s obsession with stoicism. His actions weren’t public knowledge until his television debut, not simply because he’d been too self-effacing to talk about it, but because they had to be done outside of the mainstream consensus, and often in defiance of authority.

We see Babi, in flashback, chastising government workers left, right, and centre for refusing to believe these children are in imminent danger (Bonham Carter makes for a glorious, righteous mother). But Hawes’s film is far too quick to turn away from the resistance she and her son faced in their own country. It’s Hopkins who laces his matter-of-fact delivery with a hint of rage, and ever-burning regret over those he could not save. “It’s just never enough, is it,” he laments.

One Life allows its audience to satisfy themselves by seeing a great hero celebrated, yet never forces them to reckon with what lies right at their feet – a new generation of heroes, still fighting an uphill battle simply to do the right thing.

Dir: James Hawes. Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Jonathan Pryce, Helena Bonham Carter. 12A, 109 minutes

‘One Life’ is in cinemas now

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

New to The Independent?

Or if you would prefer:

Want an ad-free experience?

Hi {{indy.fullName}}

My Independent Premium
Account details
Help centre

IMAGES

One Life (2023)
One Life Blu-ray Review: Nobody Does It Better
One Life (2023)
One Life (2013) Pictures, Trailer, Reviews, News, DVD and Soundtrack
One Life Blu-ray Review
One Life movie review

COMMENTS

‘One Life’ Review: One Man’s Rescue of Children in Wartime
‘One Life’ Review: One Man’s Rescue of Children in Wartime. A British stockbroker quietly saved hundreds of lives by arranging for children in Prague to escape the Nazis by leaving for...
One Life review
One Life review – stirring tale of the ‘British Schindler’ predictably told | Movies | The Guardian. ‘An empathic kinship between the two lead performances’: Johnny Flynn as the young ...
Movie Review: 'One Life' starring Anthony Hopkins delivers
“One Life,” a Bleecker Street release, has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association “for thematic material, smoking and some language.” Running time: 110 minutes. Three stars out of four.
One Life
Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Apr 3, 2024. Emiliano Basile EscribiendoCine. One Life works very well -- an impeccable period reconstruction, an emotional classic narrative, and a...
One Life review
Peter Bradshaw. Thu 28 Dec 2023 06.00 EST. Y ou’d need a heart of stone not to be touched by this extraordinary true story of Nicholas Winton, the “British Schindler”, and by the simplicity and...
'One Life' Review: Anthony Hopkins Portrays the 'British
Sep 11, 2023 3:15pm PT. ‘One Life’ Review: Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn Spotlight the Selfless Deeds of ‘the British Schindler’. A stirring biopic covers two eras in the long life of...
'One Life' Review: Anthony Hopkins in a Stirring Period Piece
By Leslie Felperin. September 11, 2023 4:57pm. Anthony Hopkins in 'One Life' Toronto International Film Festival. Anthony Hopkins recently played an elderly Jewish man who fled persecution as...
One Life review: Anthony Hopkins’ take on the That’s Life! hero
One Life review: Anthony Hopkins’ performance as the That’s Life! hero is better than the film that surrounds him. The actor recreates Sir Nicholas Winton’s famous chat show appearance – but...