Pressure (2026)

 

 

            “Pressure” is the heavily promoted new WWII movie. The title has a dual meaning. It refers to barometric pressure that is used to predict the weather and to the pressure Eisenhower and his chiefs were under during the last days leading up to D-Day. The movie was directed by Anthony Maras. The source material is the 2014 play by David Haig. Haig and Maras wrote the screenplay. Brendan Frazer read several Eisenhower biographies to prepare for the role and got his head shaved. In a major coincidence, a grandson of James Stagg was hired as an assistant editor to help go through 46 hours of archival footage.

            The movie covers the last 72 hours before the planned Operation Overlord landing scheduled for June 5, 1944. It leads with the aftermath of Exercise Tiger. This was a practice landing involving American troops landing on a beach in northern Great Britain that was similar to the Normandy beaches. Hundreds of G.I.s were killed by friendly artillery fire due to a communications error. The incident highlights the unpredictability of any military endeavor. SNAFU is not mentioned, but it applies here. Eisenhower is angered by the disaster, but also is reminded about how stressful future decisions will be. Into the tension filled Allied headquarters comes James Stagg (Andrew Scott). He has been sent to take over as chief meteorologist. Stagg is a brilliant scientist, but he has a dour personality. He immediately ruffles feathers with the American team which is headed by Irving Krick (Chris Messina). Krick uses past weather charts to predict future conditions based on similar situations. Stagg is dismissive of this approach and uses weather information from weather balloons and other data to determine his forecasts. Krick insists June 5 will be warm and clear. Stagg believes the opposite. He deflates Eisenhower and his chiefs (including the very skeptical Montgomery (Damian Lewis)) by recommending the invasion be postponed to June 19. Ike has a tough decision to make because the forces are primed for June 5 and maintaining the secret landings for two more weeks is daunting.

 

            The movie focuses on the relations between Ike, Stagg, Krick, and Kaye Summersby (Kerry Condon). Summersby is Ike’s assistant and therapist. The latter role she assumes with Stagg who has the added pressure of a very pregnant wife who he cannot contact for security reasons. The actors are great and get their characters right, as well as looking like them. ( Not that that is important.) Credit to the casting director. The plot throws in Montgomery for added dysfunction. In spite of the film being a joint French/British production, the movie gives us the obnoxious Monty seen in movies like “Patton”. He doesn’t care what the weather will be like on June 5 and tells Stagg to get with the optimists. He accuses Stagg of losing his damned mind. This Monty will surely be a crowd-pleaser in American theaters.

            “Pressure” is based on a play, but it does not have a stage-bound look. Most of it takes place in Southwicke House, but it is not claustrophobic. It is, of course, dialogue-driven. This is not a negative as it crackles. Ike can be volatile, Monty is pompous, Stagg is uncompromising, Krick is egotistical, and Kaye is empathetic. It’s a nice mixture. 

            Is a movie about weather forecasting entertaining? Surprisingly, yes. In one moment aimed at the viewer, Kaye tells Stagg that weathermen can be boring. Stagg gives a great defense of his profession. And this exchange will go well with modern meteorologists, especially since Stagg is going to become the most famous meteorologist in history because of this movie. I do envy viewers who need spoiler alerts because they know little about the role weather played in D-Day. War movie lovers know the basics from “The Longest Day”, but “Pressure” fleshes out that small part of the movie in a satisfying way. I have to admit I was skeptical whether a full movie could be made about it. It turns out there was enough drama to make an entertaining film.

            “Pressure” is the type of war movie that as I was taking notes I ended up with a number of plot points that I questioned the veracity of. Upon research, I feel the movie gets a B for accuracy. The biggest complaint I have is that in order to make Stagg the hero, the movie writes out the member of his team that actually predicted the poor weather and the window of acceptable weather. That man was a Norwegian named Sverre Petterssen. The conflict was actually between him and Krick with Stagg siding with Petterssen. Most of the inaccuracies involve acceptable artistic license. For instance, the relationship between Summersby and Stagg is overblown. However, the antagonism between Stagg and Krick is spot on until a cinematic reconciliation. Speaking of which, the last act is weak as the coverage of June 6 goes off the rails too much. War movie lovers will be perturbed by the use of footage of paratroopers landing in daylight! The movie leaves the compound for a shaky rendering of Omaha beach. It was a play after all.

            I recommend it and commend it for being aimed at a diverse audience that includes women and the young who don’t have any idea of the role weather played in a decisive moment in history. There is a huge “what if?” covered in this movie. What if Ike had listened to Krick? OMG

GRADE = B+