Six Minutes to Midnight
Eddie Izzard and Judi Dench star in SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT. (Photo: IFC Films)
An intriguing historical tidbit is jettisoned in favor of generic espionage machinations in Six Minutes to Midnight, which lacks the urgency its title suggests.
Set against a backdrop of palpable unease prior to the onset of World War II in Europe, this handsomely mounted British saga from director Andy Goddard (Set Fire to the Stars) struggles to muster consistent suspense.
In 1939, an English teacher and a camera have vanished from a seaside boarding school housing 20 German girls. Cue the arrival of Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard) to fill the post.
Evidently, he comes highly recommended by a search committee, but the school’s stern governess (Judi Dench) is skeptical: “What sort of Englishman would accept a post teaching Herr Hitler’s League of German Girls?”
And indeed, Miller has ulterior motives. In fact, he’s not a teacher at all, but a undercover spy sent by authorities to retrieve the missing photographs, gather intel, and solve the mystery of his predecessor’s disappearance.
When his attempts to disguise his true identity are compromised, Miller realizes the necessity of his mission, especially given the involvement of a conflicted police investigator (James D’Arcy) and an unscrupulous physical education teacher (Carla Juri).
As it navigates a maze of clandestine schemes and shifting loyalties, the film explores the effects of indoctrination on young children in its most effective subplot.
The understated performances match the subdued dramatic approach, although the flattened dramatic arc rarely yields the intended emotional resonance in Izzard’s uneven screenwriting debut. The school was real, as revealed in the closing credits, but that’s about the extent of the film’s true-life credentials.
Izzard also re-teams with Dench after playing her son in another period piece, Victoria and Abdul. In this case, the dynamics aren’t as absorbing despite some stylish period re-creation.
Dench does have the most compelling role as the aging headmistress who avoids politics, but nevertheless comes off as an apologist for the propagandist language of her beloved girls, who sport swastikas on their sleeves. However, Dench is relegated to the background as the film transitions from a character-driven melodrama into more of a low-key thriller.
Considering the sociopolitical stakes, Six Minutes to Midnight oversimplifies its historical context while mixing fact and fiction, and only scratches the surface of a promising concept.
Rated PG-13, 99 minutes.