Pressure Film Review: A Dark Doom Looms

A captivating Andrew Scott is at the center of Anthony Maras’s Pressure, a World War II thriller with a refreshingly new angle.

Pressure opens up on General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser, of Rental Family), taking in the mass destruction and tragedy caused by Exercise Tiger, the most well-known rehearsal for the historical D-Day invasion. Hundreds of men from the Allied forces lay dead as the tides carry waves of blood to and from the shores, illuminating what a disastrous failure this full-scale rehearsal operation has been. General Eisenhower paces the beach like a man on borrowed time, understanding the risk of what the proposed operation could bring the Allied forces in an entirely new light. 

Cut to Dr. James Stagg (Andrew Scott, of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery) as he carries out his typical morning routine with his heavily pregnant wife. A darkness looms over Stagg as he is actually preparing to leave his quiet life and expecting wife to serve as the Chief Meteorologist Group Captain in General Eisenhower’s operation center based out of London. 

At the recommendation of Winston Churchill, Captain Stagg has been brought on to General Eisenhower’s team with a mission that is seemingly simple enough: to provide a forecast for June 5th (only 62 hours after his arrival) in Normandy, when the D-Day operation will be carried out. While Captain Stagg argues that this is an impossible task that has been bestowed on him, General Eisenhower makes it clear he had better make it possible, as the weight of the war hinges on his forecast. 

While his peers argue the weather in Normandy will be absolutely fine for the Allied forces to invade based on the history of weather at this time of year in that particular region, Captain Stagg pushes back, forcing the entire meteorologist group to gather as much information as possible about the region’s current weather conditions. As Captain Stagg’s rigid views push him firmly out of favor with the rest of the military base, he also proves them to be accurate enough to see something no one could have predicted that very well might change the course of the war as the Allied forces know it.

Pressure builds momentum with a distinct ebb and flow. While never not conscious of the time running down on the clock until the morning of June 5th, writers Mara and Haig are able to balance General Eisenhower’s impending sense of dread with Captain Stagg’s calculated cynicism, which creates a captivating push and pull throughout the runtime of the film. 

Scott’s James Stagg does not care for the pageantry nor the lure of likability the other officers crave, but rather sees the war with a refreshing sense of clarity. At times, when you look back at moments like this in history, you may wonder how others were able to operate day to day with the knowledge of unimaginable atrocities occurring around them. Scott’s depiction of Stagg, a man impossibly grounded by the weight of the situation in front of him because of the budding family that he’s had to leave behind him, serves as a captivating acknowledgement of someone who wants to serve their country because he understands the gravity of what’s on the line if he does not lend his talents to the Allied Forces.

Scott’s performance is rooted in his character’s fear for the future of his family, yet he never lets on how desperate he is for the operation to work, with the hopes it will send him home peacefully to his wife. It’s just enough background to add in the context of why Captain Stagg acts the way he acts, while also shedding light on his internal desire for this mission to make the impact General Eisenhower is claiming it will. 

While Scott soars as Captain Stagg, his brilliant performance only underlines the lack of nuance Fraser brings to his very tortured rendition of General Eisenhower. Both Scott and Kerry Condon, who plays General Eisenhower’s immensely capable and fearless secretary Kay Summersby, act circles around Fraser, which in turn makes the story feel dilapidated when neither of them is gracing the screen. The film does not work as the dual leading man feature it wants to be because Fraser is simply unable to bring the same amount of electricity Scott so effortlessly radiates. 

Regardless of a lackluster central performance, Maras and Haig are able to create a World War II thriller that gets pulses racing while taking on an entirely new angle for such a heavily documented story. With stakes at an all-time high and Andrew Scott at the very top of his game, Pressure manages to deliver a high-pressure and satisfying watch to its audience. 

Pressure will be released in US theatres on May 29, 2026 and in UK cinemas on September 9.