World War One films are rarer birds than World War Two films, which is a pity, for like the later conflict, the so-called “Great War” is just as storied and full of human interest. Whether they are tales of derring-do in the skies (Aces High), warts-and-all narratives about life for the average Tommy on the Western Front (The Trench, 1917), or grandiose biopics about famous figures (The Red Baron), cinematic depictions of what was hoped to be the war to end all wars are frequently big box-office pulls.

The latest addition to the genre, British filmmaker Terence Davies’ Benediction, debuted in the United Kingdom last month and premieres in the United States today after winning almost universal acclaim from critics on both sides of the pond. Here’s a rundown of what to look out for.

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Siegfried Sassoon: A ‘Shellshocked Soldier’

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Benediction concerns the wartime and later experiences of Siegfried Sassoon, whose war poems represented some of his first forays into what became a rich and varied literary career. The horrors tormenting troops on the front line found expression in the substantial amount of poetry the war produced. As a result, the lives of the many poets whose work rests on their output during the war have been the subject of feature films over the years. Sassoon’s close friend, the Shropshire poet Wilfred Owen, was the subject of the 1997 film Regeneration, which also featured Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce as a doctor, Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) as a shellshocked soldier, and James Wilby (Gosford Park, The Sense Of An Ending) as Sassoon.

Benediction, however, concentrates solely on Sassoon’s journey. In war, he was known as “Mad Jack” on account of his bravery, which included storming German trenches single-handed and collecting wounded men in no-man’s-land while under heavy fire. Inevitably, he was wounded and subsequently invalided out of the front line. However, when he wrote a widely-publicized letter condemning the war under the influence of pacifist friends, he was sent to Craiglockhart, a sanatorium in Scotland, supposedly for treatment for shellshock, but in reality to remove him from the public eye. While there, Sassoon wrote some of the most affecting and dramatic war poems of the twentieth century and even managed to make his way back to the front before being wounded a second time and invalided home, this time permanently.

Sassoon is played in his younger life by Olivier Award-winner Jack Lowden, better known as a film actor for his work as a lawyer in the Deborah Lipstadt trial depicted in Holocaust courtroom drama Denial (2016). Sassoon also appears in old age in a series of flash-forwards, portrayed by Peter Capaldi. The former Doctor Who star has had a relatively quiet period since leaving that series in late 2017. However, Capaldi has had some high-profile appearances, including Mr. Micawber opposite Dev Patel in The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) and a supporting role as Gaius Grieves/The Thinker in last year’s Suicide Squad. These performances are complemented by a fine showing here.

Siegfried Sassoon’s Search for Fulfillment

An important aspect of Sassoon’s middle life was his acceptance of his bisexuality. Benediction widens the scope of previous on-screen depictions, alluding to dalliances with Ivor Novello (played in a wonderfully cattish portrayal here by Mamma Mia! franchise alum Jeremy Irvine) and the socialite Stephen Tennant, ably portrayed by up-and-coming English actor Calam Lynch.

In many ways, however, the most tender aspect of the film is Sassoon’s touching but ultimately doomed relationship with Hester Gatty, played here in her early and later life by Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, Downton Abbey) and Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’s Baby, Rocketman) respectively. Having borne him the child he always wanted, the pair became estranged in the mid-1940s. Though both actors do fine work, Phillips’ is the more striking here, coming across as the eager society woman after a fellow muse (Hester was a gifted painter and also wrote poetry), offering a poignant counterpoint to Jones’ world-weary older version of Gatty.

Siegfried Sassoon’s Late Discovery

Peter Capaldi’s hang-dog expression is perfect for the tormented Sassoon. He struggles so hard to achieve the blessing alluded to in the film’s title throughout his life and comprehending what Capaldi describes at one point as “the enigma of other people.” Perhaps he got it in his final years, as Sassoon underwent a conversion to Catholicism in the late 1950s and remained a devout Catholic until his death in 1967.

Terence Davies’ deft direction offers clarity and thoughtfulness, with a certain understated elegance brought out by cinematographer Nicola Daley (The Handmaid’s Tale, Gentleman Jack). The excellent supporting cast and spare, exacting script make Benediction one of the must-see World War One films of recent years.