Here are the three best ways to make an audience feel really nervous while watching your movie trailer: close-ups on anxious faces, a ticking clock sound getting louder and louder, and a whole heaping bunch of explosions. The new trailer for Dunkirk, director Christopher Nolan‘s highly anticipated World War II movie, delivers all of that and then some. Check it out for yourself below:
The Dunkirk Evacuation was an infamous chapter in the early stages of World War II history, during which hundreds of thousands of British and French forces were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, France by German soldiers. Unlike the previous trailer, this one focuses on the civilians who assisted the official evacuation in privately-owned vessels that could navigate the shallow waters of the English channel more adeptly than larger military ships. The “Dunkirk Little Ships” became popular figures in British propaganda, and are still celebrated as a symbol of courage today. It was also this battle that inspired Winston Churchhill’s famous “We Shall Fight On The Beaches” speech in 1940, part of which appears in the end of the trailer as a voiceover spoken by an a young actor.
Dunkirk boasts a star-studded cast of Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, James D’Arcy, and Harry Styles, and hits theaters on July 21. I’m incredibly excited to see if it lives up to the hype, how about you? Tell us all about what you feel about Nolan’s latest project in the comments below — and as a bonus, weigh in on how long you think Harry Styles’ character makes it to the end of the film, because I’m convinced he’s too young and pretty and sympathetic to survive.
Images: Warner Bros.
