Review of Testament of Youth (2015) by Cole J — 25 Jun 2015

If you look at the poster, you get the idea. A wartime period costume love story that has some nice images, emotion, and some romance. Much of the film feels very conventional, but there are elements that separate it from being pure convention, namely the visual look and performances. It pays off because of some well-done moments and a solid crew all around, but the experience is often shallow and overlong.

The romance in the film is pretty standard wartime fare, with letters and departing trains. The actors gave it a nice chemistry though, and I enjoyed the seeing the relationship because of it. There is also a brother sister relationship that was very affective, again thanks to the actors, but I also appreciated the care given to the non-romantic relationship which could have easily been overlooked.

Alicia Vikander's performance is very subtle, but she can be quite a force at times. I felt that Vikander was working with a bit more than she was given here. Her subtleties may have paid off more if the story gave her character a bit more depth, and the same goes with the film itself. There are a couple of ideas about war that I like that the film touches, but it only touches them. Much of it is focused on the surface or the emotion of war grief and relationships, but there's nothing that complex or thought provoking to be found here. This isn't always a bad thing, but a stronger internal struggle from the protagonist could have helped the film from meandering on the surface, which is what made the 129 minutes feel like it was too much.

By the end, the long reserved protagonist gives us her conclusions from her experiences, which felt very welcome, and just won me over to feeling good about the movie overall. The movie does a good job of putting you through a Vera Brittain's World War I experience, but I wouldn't call it exceptional. I recommend this movie based on how much the poster makes you want to see it.