One Life review: "A powerful, superbly acted tale of bravery and unsung heroism"

One Life had its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. Here’s our review… 

In 1988, BBC magazine show That’s Life! aired what would become one of the most famous episodes in its 21-year history. The programme featured former London stockbroker Nicholas Winton, who talked about how his involvement with the so-called Kindertransport project enabled him to save 669 Jewish children from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II.

One Life’s recreation of what happened next on the show is one of the most tear-jerking moments you’ll see in the cinema this year - but it’s just part of this absorbing tale of bravery and unsung heroism.

Split across two timelines, James Hawes’ drama shows Winton (Johnny Flynn) as a young man, working with his mother (Helena Bonham Carter) and others (Romola Garai, Alex Sharp), as he goes to Europe to organise visas, transport, and foster families, while Nazi forces amass. Humble and open-minded (“I consider myself a European, an agonistic, and a socialist,” he says), he’s also utterly selfless. But when we cut back to the late '80s, we find Winton (Anthony Hopkins) still haunted by those he didn’t save.

With a quality cast (which also includes Lena Olin as Winton’s wife and Jonathan Pryce as his friend), this is a finely crafted film that unfolds with great care, building towards a cathartic climax. Winton – dubbed “the British Schindler” – perhaps won’t be known to many, especially outside of the UK, but One Life does a salutary job of shining a spotlight on him. Following The Father and Armageddon Time, Hopkins plays another blinder: he’s first-rate as the older Winton. But he’s just one (pivotal) piece of a jigsaw that could well renew your faith in humanity.

One Life opens in UK cinemas on January 1 2024.