Seigfried Sassoon, who was an English war poet, writer, and soldier, is well known for his bravery on the Western Front. He was one of the leading poets during the First World. His poetry described the blood-filled and miserable life at the trenches and satirized the patriotic pretensions of those responsible for the war.
His autobiography, known as the “Shreston Trilogy,” was released in the form of a movie in 2021. The movie was named Benediction, and it showed us how the gay British poet lived his life. With the movie receiving such honest and great reviews, let’s find out if it is worth our time and, if yes, where can we watch it online.
Is Benediction Worth It?
Benediction (2021), which had its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, received a 6.8/10 on IMDb and a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. This film, written by Terence Davies, stars Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi, is worth your time.
The movie shows the life of a brave English war poet who was put into a military psychiatric hospital after protesting against the continuation of the war. Sassoon meets a young man over there and soon comes out of the closet and then ends up with subsequent relationships with various men. However, as his life went on, he retreated to heterosexual marriage and became a father.
In his later stages of life, he converted to Catholicism. This beautiful movie by Terence Davies makes it worth your while as it shows the sad but beautiful life of Sassoon and his experiences as a gay man in the early 1920s in London.
From being a brave young man filled with passion for his country to experiencing the blood-filled war and protesting against it, from falling in love with a man to having many casual relations and then finally becoming a father and converting to Catholicism, Sassoon has done it all. Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi also portrayed Sassoon’s character as their own.
Is There More to the Movie than Just its Story?
Terence Davies, who is a British filmmaker, wrote this movie. He also reveals in many interviews about how he is gay and how being gay has mostly been a sort of a curse to him. He also stated, “I hate it, I’ll go to my grave hating it… it has killed a part of my soul”, in one of his interviews in 2011. He has shown loneliness and sensitivity in many of his films.
He has never directly mentioned homosexuality in any of his previous films. Still, Benediction was one of the first films where he showed it directly, and it caught many of his viewers by surprise. There is surely more to this movie than the life of Sassoon as somewhere deep down, and Davies also tries to relate to it, which makes the movie even more beautiful and worthwhile.
Where to Watch it Online?
The movie, which came out in 2021, is unavailable for streaming on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and other streaming platforms. If one is interested in watching this movie have to wait for some months as the movie is set to come out this year in theatres and soon at your homes.
The movie will release on May 13, 2022, in the United Kingdom, with dates for the other parts of the world to be given out soon. Until then, the users have to make a duo with the trailer or read Sassoon’s autobiographies.
Cast
The movie stars Jack Lowden as Siegfried Sassoon when he was younger and spent his time at war and prison. When he ages and becomes old, Siegfried’s character is then played by Peter Capaldi. With the stunning acting done by both these artists, the movie also has other characters who bring out the best in the above two.
Simon Russel Beale, Jeremy Irvine, Kate Phillips, Matthew Tennyson, and Lia Williams are some of the other actors who have also done an amazing job. With the diversity and skills of all these actors, they play the characters given to them as if they are living them, and that truly makes the movie worthwhile and a must-watch.
