Steve McQueen’s ‘Blitz' to Close 62nd New York Film Festival

Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” has nabbed another festival appearance. After being selected to world premiere at the London Film Festival, “Blitz” is set to close the 62nd New York Film Festival in October.

“Blitz is a vivid and visceral depiction of life during wartime, a meticulous historical account that resonates unmistakably with our current age of endless war,” said Dennis Lim, Artistic Director, New York Film Festival. “We are thrilled to welcome back to the festival Steve McQueen, one of the most daring artists at work today, with one of the greatest achievements of his career.”

Sight unseen, the film is still very much an Oscar contender. It’s just all rather puzzling how It’s decided to skip the big fests. The last few NYFF closing night films have been hit and miss: “Ferrari,” “The Inspection,” “Parallel Mothers,” “French Exit,” “Motherless Brooklyn,” “Wonder Wheel” and “At Eternity’s Gate.”

As I had previously reported, “Blitz” is skipping Telluride and Venice. They’re not even going to send this one to Toronto. Here’s the official synopsis:

Blitz follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to Rita and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in east London, ensues on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.

An early reaction compared the film to Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun” and Boorman’s “Hope and Glory”: war seen through the eyes of a child. That PG-13 rating now makes sense.

“Blitz” will release in select cinemas on November 1, before streaming globally on Apple TV+ starting on November 22. No studio has picked this one up for theatrical distribution … It looks like it’s just getting a 3-week theatrical bow before going to streaming.

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