Title – Pressure (2026)
Director – Anthony Maris (Hotel Mumbai)
Cast – Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, Damian Lewis
Plot – Tells the true story of British meteorologist James Stagg (Scott) who worked alongside Dwight ‘Ike’ Eisenhower (Fraser) to bring about the D-Day invasion that would change the course of World War 2 forever.
“Get me the data. That’s what counts”
Review by Eddie on 02/10/2026
Just when you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to World War 2 historically based features along comes a movie like Pressure, combining the topics of D-Day with meteorology thanks to director Anthony Maris’s Pressure.
Akin to last year’s surprise success story Nuremberg, with Maris’s feature the type of experience you don’t really expect today with its old-school approach not suitable to many viewing palettes today as this type of viewing offering has largely disappeared in the modern era, Pressure does a fine job of telling a story not many would know, one that shaped the most well-known and integral tactical move of the World War 2 period.
Taking place mostly in a singular location as Andrew Scott’s stoic and introverted weather expert James Stagg was tasked with the unenviable job of predicting the weather for the D-Day invasion at the request of famed military figure Dwight Eisenhower (a solid Brendan Fraser who does feel slightly miscast here), Pressure mines an abundance of tension and intrigue out of its concept that takes place over a white knuckle inducing period of 72 hours.
In more ways than one Maris film is an unremarkable one, it doesn’t take any great risks in a filmmaking sense and all takes place in a fashion we’ve seen utilised in countless films before it but it’s also an undeniably entertaining film and at times an emotionally powerful expose of a time and place that changed the course of human history, hugely benefiting also from another awards calibre performance from Scott who continues to deliver notable work on his way to enhancing his growing legacy as one of the most reliable actors working today.
With recent important turns in the likes of the latest Knives Out, All of Us Strangers and TV efforts such as His Dark Materials and Ripley, it feels as though Scott is steadily building with each passing project on his way to breaking out majorly and had Pressure been more politically charged or surrounded in hype, his turn as the not always likable but always respectable Stagg may have been a dark horse player at this year’s upcoming awards season.
Surrounded by solid supports that includes the always enjoyable Kerry Condon and underrated character actor Chris Messina, Pressure constantly keeps things interesting and by the time pivotal moments come towards the final act, there’s no denying that Maris’s film is another top-notch addition to the cannon of high recommendable war films that continue to find new stories to tell in the most unexpected of ways.
Final Say –
Telling a story you never knew you should know in a highly entertaining and baggage free way, Pressure is a quality World War 2 dramatic thriller made all the better by an awards worthy Andrew Scott central turn.
3 1/2 weather charts out of 5
