Visually striking (costumes, sets, not too much CGI...) and with a great cast who do a wonderful job with the parts they play. I loved the shots of the women working in the factory!
What I'm struggling with is that it feels like it's not sure if it's about a boy trying to find his way home and encounters lots of obstacles along the way... or the impact of racism in London in the 1930s/1940s. I think both would have been excellent and interesting movies but what we end up with is something that feels both too much and too little.
I personally would have loved it if it focused entirely on George and, in trying to find his way home, he learns to more about himself and his heritage. We get some of that, but they're more like side quests that are cut short. I would have liked more Ife! What a sweetheart.
He experiences so much trauma, much of which takes the viewer by surprise, but we don't really see how that shapes him.
There are bunch of points that are clearly supposed to be tear jerkers but they just don't quite land for me.
The score was also pretty wild. Like an experimental horror film. War = horror?
I suppose one could argue that there's no satisfying end in war times.
