Many films were made not only about World War II, but also about the days leading up to it. Therefore, new angles can be difficult to find. How about this: a Nazi girl’s school in a seaside town in England in the 1930s?
That place existed: Augusta Victoria College in Bexhill-on-Sea. The school badge contained a Union Jack and a swastika. It was here that the daughters of the Nazi elite went to the finish. Because of this peculiar fact, Eddie Izzard, whose family comes from Bexhill, decided to forge a film; Izzard not only stars in “Six Minutes to Midnight”, he is also one of the script writers and also an executive producer.
The setting grafts a fictional thriller with Hitchcock’s scent to the reality of the school’s existence. “Midnight” begins with the disappearance of an instructor from the school, in sinister circumstances. Izzard enters as Thomas Miller, come to replace him. Like his predecessor, Miller is a British spy sent to collect information about the school. Although the activities of the students, their German instructor Ilse (Carla Juri) and their British director (Judi Dench) appear to be on the rise, as far as pedagogy is concerned, the environment seems conducive to espionage. And when Miller witnesses the student body’s enthusiastic response to an Adolf Hitler radio speech, he imagines that his superiors’ suspicions are correct.
Classified lists, a secret evacuation plan and a murder setup come into play. The betrayals are portrayed by director Andy Goddard with above-average skill, but the more the film leans towards the old suspense conventions, the more interest he unfortunately loses.
Six minutes to midnight
Rated PG-13 for violence. Execution time: 1 hour and 39 minutes. In theaters and available for rent or purchase on Apple TV, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. Consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies in theaters.