Britain and the Blitz (2025) Netflix Movie Review

The Review Geek

05-05-2025

Keep Calm and Carry On
There have been a lot of documentaries about World War II over the years, and perhaps one topic that's been covered more than most — especially over here in the United Kingdom — is The Blitz. From popular movies like Atonement to revisionist efforts like Blitz, the subject has been explored extensively in the entertainment world.
Over on the documentary side, it's hard to top The World at War from 1973, which still stands as one of the best and most definitive wartime documentaries of all time. Honestly, if you haven't watched it, it's a must-watch.
With such a well-worn topic, Netflix has slowly been dipping their toes into this wartime space too, with recent efforts like Churchill at War and Greatest Events of WWII in Colour showing the studio's efforts to broadcast more of what happened during the War.
Britain and the Blitz, then, feels much more cinematic than it does informative — essentially presenting a romanticised version of The Blitz, sporting archival footage intercut with first-hand accounts from men and women trying to survive the horrors of WWII.
The fabled 'Blitz spirit' is shown front and centre here, with plenty of reflections about people living like every day could be their last, while others just 'kept calm and carried on.'
There are no overt narrators or big-picture analysts to provide a broader historical context though, beyond a few quotes from Churchill and Hitler, and that does make this feel somewhat narrow and small in scope. A direct contrast to that aforementioned cinematic appeal that the documentary is going for.
Across the documentary, we follow Edith Heap, an Intelligence plotter based at RAF Debden; Richard, a firefighter; Joan — who details a romantic affair with her neighbour Rupert; Eric Brady, a London evacuee, and his sister Kitty; and Marie Price, a Liverpudlian local. A few others pop up throughout, but it's largely these voices that stitch the narrative together.
While the documentary does showcase some fascinating slices of life — like the class divide between north and south when Eric moves to Coventry and clashes with the local kids — it also feels like a missed opportunity not to give more historical context or explore these stories through a wider lens.
For example, the evacuation effort initially included plans to send children to Canada, America, and New Zealand, until one of the ships was destroyed, killing 260 people in the process. That kind of background could have added a deeper emotional layer to Eric's storyline, but it's completely overlooked.
There's also a slightly odd inclusion around the Communist Party, who are briefly shown as the plucky underdogs trying to undermine the government. Yet the film never acknowledges that they only supported the war after Russia was invaded, which feels like an important omission if you're trying to be historically accurate.
Visually, the documentary is well-edited for the most part, with archival footage and photographs effectively used — but it's constantly undermined by the musical score. I'm not sure whose idea it was to add a pulsating, overly dramatic soundtrack like we're in a Hollywood action flick, but it really doesn't work.
Moments that should land quietly are drowned out by soaring orchestral swells or over-the-top sequences that make you feel like Tom Cruise is going to rush on screen. At one point, when we're told St. Paul's Cathedral avoided being bombed, a choral score kicks in on cue, clearly designed to heighten the moment emotionally — but it just feels forced. Once you notice moments like this, it's hard to unsee. Sometimes less really is more.
That's perhaps the best summary I can give of Britain and the Blitz overall. There are some interesting anecdotes, and the first-hand accounts do help ground the documentary emotionally. But the narrow focus, stylistic overreach, and lack of broader historical insight all hold this back from being truly memorable.
It's not an outright bad documentary — but compared to so many others on this subject, it sadly slips into forgettable mediocrity.