Pressure

Sometimes, there’s nothing boring about talking about the weather. Brendan Fraser, Andrew Scott, Kerry Condon, and Damien Lewis star in this film about the monumental decision to send Allied troops ashore on the Norman coast in early June, 1944, and the weather forecasts that could have doomed them all… and may have ended up making the invasion one of the most successful in military history. It’s a close character drama about the courage to speak up against what “everyone knows” and to stand by your knowledge when questioned, set against the backdrop of the climax of World War II. It currently has an 88% Tomatometer and a 95% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes.

“We all know how it turned out, but Pressure cranks up the dramatic stress in a character-driven saga that retells a lesser-known side of a monumental moment in military history. Smashing!” -Thelma Adams, AARP Movies for Grownups
“Pressure is skillfully directed, sweeping us into this world with a kind of addictive immediacy.” -Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service
“As a chamber piece set within the grander opera of battle, it’s a comforting watch. And as a fresh meat-and-potatoes dish offered by a type of cinema that will hopefully never expire, it’s satisfying too.” -David Sims, The Atlantic
“Fraser captures something essential about Eisenhower almost immediately.” -Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
“The beauty of Pressure is that it gives us the contemplative space to think beyond the mere borders of this specific historical event, which is the ultimate aim of most good war movies.” -Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture
“It is a thoughtful film about people facing the direst problems with honor, intelligence, and courage that goes beyond the physical to include fearlessness about pursuing the truth.” -Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com
“For all the prior cinematic depictions of storming bunkers and camaraderie under fire, Pressure offers us the quiet heroism of rational restraint in the figure of James Stagg, who weathered his inner storms and bore the courage to be disliked.” -Daniel Jonah Wolpert, NPR
“Pressure is less of a traditional war flick than a satisfying chamber piece about how people use and communicate information when the stakes are sky high and groupthink is kicking in. Your dad already has his ticket booked.” -Philip De Semlyen, Time Out

Pressure bursts onto the scene at The Clyde on Friday, June 12, and plays Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at 7:30.