Glorious 39

R

2009

2 hr. 9 min.

History

Drama

Romance

Mystery & Thriller

War

List

44%

25 Reviews

Tomatometer

43%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A mystery surrounds a British family on the eve of World War II.

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Alexey U

A great film which many commentators called 'old-fashioned' and some found tedious. The slightly surreal ending to what had started as a historical drama may not be the most convincing in a realistic sense but is perfectly suited to the psychological transformation carefully studied in the film. Romola Garai is shining here but is surrounded be top-notch actors who provide her a reserved and appropriate background.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/24

Full Review

Piers K

I'll keep it simple, like the film. Big names, terrible acting (goodness knows why), awful script, meaningless plot. Bag of

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/03/23

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Audience Member

Probably the worst film I've ever seen with terrible plot, wooden acting and the most unrealistic dialogue I've ever heard.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

I subscribed to Acorn tv just to watch this film as the cast and trailers I'd seen looked really good. It started off ok, but rapidly lost the plot - or was that me? I feel this was a missed opportunity to expose the conspiracy theories behind the scene of the run up to the war. It succeeded only in failing. I felt very disappointed. Fortunately a months sub to Acorn is less than seeing a film at the cinema. The last hour was truly dreadful and seemingly directionless.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Absolutely superb. Stephen Poliakoffs unique style and mastery of almost poetic dialogue inevitably draws me in to almost another sphere. I can compare him to no other playwright and in my opinion he is incomparable. He manages to create an underlying tone of menace throughout without scenes of actual violence. Romola Garai the adopted outsider into an upper class family shines. Many will find the film slow and rather uneventful. However the beautiful serene dialogue disguises the building menace and evil so subtly you barely realise what horrors are actually involved. This with a superb cast, beautiful background score leaves one with a sense of disquiet. My only criticism as an animal lover is the graphic, repugnant scenes of animal euthanasia. I strongly believe more warnings should accompany films if they insist on filming these unnecessarily detailed scenes. The distress of seeing the flaming pyres of domestic animals distracts the viewer ( if animal lovers) from the real story. I would have awarded 5 stars if not for that.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Gosh what a terrible film. Gorse film I have seen in a very long time. I was led believe it would be a fantastic film as the cast had some great actors. Terrible, truly terrible.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

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Stephen Poliakoff

Director

Romola Garai

Anne Keyes

Bill Nighy

Alexander

Julie Christie

Elizabeth

David Tennant

Hector

Juno Temple

Celia

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Philip De Semlyen

Empire Magazine

Stupendous turn from Romola Garai in the lead role but, while this sets up intrigue and atmosphere well, the plot devices creak audibly towards the end.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 20, 2009

Full Review

Dave Calhoun

Time Out

A political yarn - sometimes creepy, sometimes daft - in the Hitchcockian vein.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 20, 2009

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Times (UK)

For all its sumptuous production design, Steven Poliakoff's tale of glamorous toffs and treason is so laboured and slow that it's practically pensionable.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 20, 2009

Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

Poliakoff's film has provocative ideas about appeasement and a few truly chilling sequences, but some surprisingly clumsy dialogue and occasionally awkward acting suggest he hasn't fully got a grip on his material.

Nov 24, 2020

Full Review

Nikki Baughan

Roll Credits

But, when taken as a whole, [Stephen] Poliakoff's film is a watchable and involving thriller which effectively uses its setting to tell a menacing story of a family - and a country - being torn apart by an all-encompassing war.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 28, 2019

Full Review

Brian Orndorf

BrianOrndorf.com

Despite a few convincing turns, the feature is disappointingly winded, eventually going off on a few needless tangents that derail the whole production.

Rated: C

Feb 14, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

A mystery surrounds a British family on the eve of World War II.

Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Executive Producer: James Atherton, Sheryl Crown, Sara Geater, Laurie Hayward
Screenwriter: Stephen Poliakoff
Production Co: BBC Films, Quickfire Films, UK Film Council
Rating: R (Brief Sexuality/Nudity|Some Violent Images|Language)
Genre: History, Drama, Romance, Mystery & Thriller, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016