The producers sure misread the public for this one. As every moviegoer knows, weather is for chaos and destruction. We’re talking cyclones, hurricanes, twisters, roaming icebergs, ships in distress, cities swamped or frozen. The clue is in the title – Twister (1996), Twisters (2024), The Perfect Storm (2000), Hurricane (1979). The clue in the title here would have driven audiences away. We’ve spent half our lives listening to weather forecasters talk about pressure, low or high apparently, without having a clue what they’re on about.
Which is a shame because the title here is dual purpose. Yes, it’s about the weather front that could wreck D-Day but it’s also about the mental gymnastics undergone by all the generals, admirals and backroom staff as the Allies prepare for the greatest invasion ever known. Key to a successful landing is the weather. Too much weather, i.e. waves a few feet higher, and the landing troops will be swept away.
The Yanks involved are unfamiliar with the English concept of the stiff upper lip so they just verbally let loose on anyone getting in their way, including Scottish weather kingpin James Stagg (Andrew Scott). He’s been drafted in as a counterbalance to the gung-ho American weather expert Irving Krick (Chris Messina) who has made any number of crucial interventions weather-wise, including not just the North African campaign but the filming of Gone with the Wind (1939).
Krick relies on history to make his calculations. If this happened in 1913 and 1931 with these conditions the consequences would be the same in 1944. James Stagg is not convinced. So that’s the first head-to-head battle. Luckily, Stagg isn’t the hapless kind of the backroom boy, and asserts his authority from the get-go.
But when Stagg’s calculations don’t go the way Allied Commander General Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) wants then he’s got a raging boss to deal with not to mention an arrogant General Bernard Montgomery (Damian Lewis) who somewhere along the way lost his stiff upper lip and lets it all hang out rather than, like his countrymen, reining it in.
So it’s the lowly (in comparative terms) weatherman sticking to his guns in the face of a roomful of Army and Navy chiefs, on top of which his wife is in hospital dangerous ill after a German bombing raid.
Krick isn’t above sneaky manoeuvres to attempt to put Stagg in his place, and the Scot might as well have had a target pinned to his back for all the verbal abuse he takes. But his refusal to give way ranks with all the resilient greats over the centuries who had resisted taking the easy route and stood up for his principals and incessant belief that he is right and that if the bosses take any other action Germany will win the war. The stakes, let’s just say, couldn’t be higher.
Luckily, Eisenhower isn’t one to be persuaded by self-serving charlatans. He’s an interesting study here, well aware that he’s in charge of the greatest military show on earth while never having led an army into battle before. He is plagued with doubt as well. And his adulterous relationship with his assistant Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon) isn’t glossed over either, nor, interestingly, is he inclined to let romance get in the way of hard decisions.
In fairness, this is more of a chamber piece and opening up what began as a stage play to show ships in battle and the other actionable elements of D-Day isn’t really required and it might well have been better to scale down its ambitions because the inherent drama is more than enough.
Andrew Scott (Ripley TV series, 2024) comes out on top precisely because he’s got to rein it all in but Brendan Fraser (Rental Family, 2025) is convincing and, luckily, Kerry Condon (F1 The Movie, 2025) is giving more to do than just mop Eisenhower’s brow.
So, basically, it’s a very well-written and very well-acted drama. Directed by Andrew Maras (Hotel Mumbai, 2018) and co-written by him with David Haig, better known as an actor, who wrote the original play.
I saw this on the big screen but didn’t review it at the time. It’s not taken long to get into streaming. You can catch it on Apple and Amazon and others.
