Collins and his mates want to enlist, because they believe it will be an adventure that will lead to later dividends. He assumes his father opposes because he wants to keep him on the farm. However, when he reaches France, Collins realizes this war is nothing like he imagined—and it will not end anytime soon.
In a baptism of fire, their corporal takes Collins and three mates on a mission into no man’s land on their first night in the trenches. Only Collins returns. He blames himself for at least one of their deaths, because he could not kill a German soldier who looked even younger than himself. Consequently, he takes greater risks to save other Allied soldiers, as the weeks drag into months and even years.
There is a lot that works in Before Dawn, but just as the generals were fighting prior wars with new technology, Prince-Wright is largely hemmed in by the cinematic vocabulary of the various film versions of All Quiet on the Western Front. Few films have successfully broken out of the trench straight-jacket, but it has been done by the likes of 1917, The Blue Max, and, ironically, the animated Sgt. Stubby (which is probably the best of the lot).
Nevertheless, the gritty realism of Before Dawn packs a punch and the warfighting special effects are impressive, in an immersive kind of way. Prince-Wright conveys a visceral sense of how the mud and muck were a constant, demoralizing presence, as well as the sudden randomness of death.
Levi Miller credibly portrays Collins’ harsh maturation, but never in a way that truly surprises the audience. Instead, Myles Pollard somewhat overshadows him as the battle-hardened and also secretly battle-scarred Sgt. Beaufort, who maybe should have been the focal character, as perceived by Collins.
Watching Before Dawn inspires sympathy for those raw recruits. It is a solid WWI drama that accurately reflects wartime conditions. Recommended for its realism, Before Dawn releases tomorrow (9/24) on BluRay.
