A brutal, agonising depiction of the First World War’s nightmarish horror and pointless carnage. Across the board, the filmmaking is astonishingly accomplished, sound making for an immersive experience, score serving as narrator and cinematography capturing moments of surreal beauty amidst scenes of appalling suffering. None of the production’s impressive craftsmanship, however, is never allowed to overwhelm the harrowing performance by Felix Kammerer. Each element is expertly harnessed by director Edward Berger to showcase his star’s compelling work and to create a painfully intimate, profoundly personal drama that burns with all the anguish and opprobrium of the celebrated source material.