10 Most Historically Inaccurate War Movies Ever Made

Unlike most glorified war films that portray the high points of our history, Darkest Hour is set in 1940: Hitler’s empire now bordered on the Soviet Union and stretched as far as France, the low countries and parts of Scandinavia. Subsequently, Britain’s prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, resigned and a mass evacuation from northern France was essential if the allies were to avoid the capture of half a million soldiers.

Enter Churchill (Gary Oldman): the preventer of a surrender, whose can-do attitude simply galvanised everyone into defeating the Third Reich. Not really. The shouting matches shown between Churchill and his minsters who wanted to make a deal with Hitler probably never happened, since the idea that Churchill was completely opposed to a deal with Hitler is nonsense. The country was in complete disarray and believe it or not, Hitler had always considered England his natural ally; cabinet members were hopeful he could be convinced to take over the world whilst leaving the British Empire alone.

But none of this compares with the absurdity of the underground scene, where Churchill spontaneously hops on the Tube and shakes hands with a bunch of people, including a black person. Given his aristocratic background (a class that would never dream of setting foot on the Tube) and deep love for the British Empire (an affection that carried with it an entrenched racism), this scene is beyond ridiculous.

Overall, the film tries to portray a sense of real hope, especially towards the end. In reality, with the prospect of Nazi world-domination seeming imminent, this is rather misleading.