Benediction

4/4/2022

Whilst at times a bit messy, Terence Davies and Jack Lowden have put together quite a compelling story of the life (and loves) of acclaimed British poet Siegfried Sassoon. Though not a conscientious objector - he got an MC in France during WWI, he regaled against the wartime policies of the Government and was invalided to an hospital near Edinburgh, where under the care of Dr. Rivers (Ben Daniels) he began to explore his sexuality and to fall in love for the first time (here, with an other equally acclaimed WWI poet Wilfred Owen (Matthew Tennyson)). The film uses two timelines to tell the story. The first, more of a chronology as Sassoon meets and loves the handsome yet frequently unreliable and scathing Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine) and Calam Lynch's excellent portrayal of Stephen Tennant.