One Life (2024) Review – A Movie Made To Make You Cry

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Plot Summary

For more than a year, as it became clear the rise of Hitler would not be restrained by western Europe, ordinary people like Nicholas Winton and his peers sought to give hundreds of children refugee in England, as Czechoslovakia became occupied by the Nazi regime.

Nearly 50 years later, Nicholas ‘Nicky’ finds himself tasked with cleaning up his home of his charity work and advocacy and comes across the picture of the kids he helped, or tried to. So, believing this scrapbook of his deserves to outlive him and not be thrown in a fire like everything else, he seeks a home for his work and, in the process, learns of the results of his efforts.

Character Guide

Character’s Name	Actor’s Name
Nicholas Winton	Anthony Hopkins

Character Description(s)

Nicholas Winton

A banker, a stock broker to be specific, for most of his life, with parents who left Germany due to World War I, and jewish grandparents, Nicholas was ingrained with the idea of doing right with all of his abilities. Which is why a trip to prague, as Nazi Germany began to encroach more and more westward, triggered him to do more than simply not how bad things were getting and to leave. This led to him, with his peers, saving hundreds of kids.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Collide.”

Review

Good If You Like

• Movies Based On A True Story
• Feel Good Stories
• Crying

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1. Ordinary Angels
2. A Good Person

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Notable Performances or Moments

After A Certain Point, It’ll Leave You In Tears

For most of the movie, you may feel that this film won’t get to you. Yes, the focus is on kids trying to escape the Nazi regime and the holocaust. Also, you know the fate of many on-screen likely will be death if Nicholas and his peers don’t rescue them. But, as noted below, it feels too much like awards bait to get into.

However, you eventually realize that only the parts featuring a younger Nicholas are geared toward being awards bait. The older Nicholas, played by Anthony Hopkins, brings a different side. He is his mother’s son, raised to do good, no matter how ordinary he feels, and even as a older man, he wants to continue helping people, advocating, but seemingly has been forced into retirement. With that, his slowing down doesn’t lead to him focusing on his family more, but rather getting to actually take note of what he has done.

And be it for the sake of legacy or making sure history isn’t forgotten, as you see him push this scrapbook of memories of people saved, or he planned to, so begins the shift. It’s almost like a wood burning over that you wait a good part of the movie to get hot, and once it is, you are in the perfect scenario.

One in which, when you see Anthony Hopkins cry, a moment I can’t recall ever seeing in a film of his, it hits you. No longer does this feel like Oscar bait or something cheap. Instead, you’re reminded why it is important to showcase victims of genocide and war. Protecting children who are often the collateral damage of the sins of past generations and that, whether you see yourself as ordinary or not, you play a role.

On The Fence

It Feels Like Awards Bait

What take the air out of “One Life” is that it often can feel like awards bait. It is based on a true story, is clearly a tear jerker, uses the horrors of war, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable, and so on. Add in past Oscar winners and nominees, and the usual time jumping that can mess with the flow of the narrative a bit, and “One Life” can feel like a by the book, “We want accolades!” type of movie.

But, similar to “The Iron Lady” and others, while predictable and made for a niche, its lead pushes past the potential disappointments and creates ways for you to leave this film thinking it was good, even if you didn’t think so in the beginning, and throughout the middle.

Not All The Children Get A Clear Cut Follow Up

As you can imagine, or maybe know if you are aware of Nicholas’ story, we meet a lot of children while he was doing his work in the late 1930s. So, as the film builds up towards its end, when you expect him to be reunited, you may expect all the children, mostly girls, that were focused on to tell their story.

That isn’t the case. In some ways, you get it. Nicholas rescued 600+ kids, and according to one character, almost 1300 died by Nazi hands alone. Others died due to disease, starvation, or simply disappeared. But, with not getting an update on everyone, it does bring a realness and stains a bit the feel-good nature of the story and Nicholas being a hero. For, as shown when he cries, while he did a lot, because he couldn’t inspire the right people, organizations, or political leaders, he is left feeling he didn’t do enough.

A Bit Of a Disconnect With Supporting Characters

The majority of characters in “One Life” you recognize are a vital part in Nicholas doing what he did and surviving – whether it is surviving undermining the Nazi regime or mentally and emotionally being able to handle all he was part of. However, no one really is elevated beyond who they are to Nicholas. His mom is his mom, and while we’re told she immigrated from Germany, her parents were Jewish, and things like that, even with Helena Bonham Carter playing her, something feels like it is missing.

That’s pretty much the issue with everyone. Nicholas’ wife we may see teaching in a scene, and is as caring as a wife should be expected to be, but she doesn’t fully evolve beyond being his wife. The list goes on and on, including the man who Nicholas worked closely with to get children out of Czechoslovakia, whose briefcase he still holds.

It’s made clear Nicholas didn’t do any of this alone, but it is also made clear this film isn’t about them and the only spotlight they’ll get is when they step into Nicholas’ light.

Background Information

Director(s)	James Hawes
Writer(s)	Nick Drake, Lucinda Coxon
Based On Work By	Barbara Winton
Date Released	March 14, 2024
Where To Watch	In Theaters
Genre(s)	Drama, Horror, Biopic, Historical, War
Film Length	1 Hour 50 Minutes
Content Rating	Rated PG
Content Information	Dialog: Discriminatory Language | Violence: Nothing Notable | Sexual Content: Nothing Notable | Miscellaneous: Nazi Paraphernalia