Dunkirk

In 1940, English journalist Charles Foreman seeks to alert readers to the dangers posed by the German buildup. He rails against the Ministry of Information for suppressing the truth and tries to wake a complacent public. His neighbor John Holden is part of the same social circle that has grown used to the quiet of the Phoney War.

The Battle of France opens and the BEF withdraws toward the Channel. Lieutenant Lumpkin and Corporal Binns are left with a handful of men after their unit has pulled back. Binns assumes command of four privates—Barlow, Bellman, Fraser and Russell—as they press to locate their missing unit.

Fraser is killed when the Royal Artillery battery repulses a German tank attack. The battery commander orders Binns to head north with his men and two stragglers, Harper and Miles, to find their unit. Just after they depart, the battery is wiped out by Stuka dive bombers.

With the BEF’s situation deteriorating, General Gort ignores counterattack orders and moves to evacuate troops from Dunkirk. The plan shifts from a stand-up defense to a desperate withdrawal.

In England, Vice-Admiral Ramsay coordinates Operation Dynamo and the Admiralty begins requisitioning suitable civilian boats to sail to Dunkirk. Foreman and Holden’s vessels—Vanity and Heron—are among the craft pressed into service as part of the rescue effort.

The hastily organized flotilla is marshalled at Sheerness as owners race to join the evacuation. Foreman insists on taking Vanity to Dunkirk, despite warnings of danger, and Holden resolves to take Heron, aided by his teenage apprentice Frankie.

Binns and his men spend the night in an abandoned farmhouse as war closes in. At dawn a German unit appears and a firefight erupts, badly wounding Bellman. The group escapes, but Binns is forced to leave Bellman behind to receive medical attention.

After slipping past a German camp under cover of darkness, they stumble upon an RAF lorry manned by Airmen Froome and Pannet. The lorry takes them to Dunkirk, where Allied troops are being bombed and strafed from the air.

Binns and his men manage to board a rescue ship, only for it to be hit by a bomb and sink. They are forced to jump into the sea and struggle to stay afloat as the evacuation scene becomes chaotic. The Admiralty also starts to withdraw its destroyers, threatening their chances of rescue.

Rear Admiral Ramsay argues against withdrawing the destroyers, pressing for a more robust evacuation. The Admiralty reluctantly agrees to send some ships back and to intensify the rescue effort.

Foreman and Holden ferry soldiers to the larger ships as the evacuation effort continues. Vanity is sunk by a bomber, killing Joe, but Foreman is rescued by Holden. The two men continue to help carry survivors onto the boats despite the danger.

With harbor operations largely impossible, thousands of Allied troops crowd the beaches under heavy air attacks. The chaotic scene underscores the desperate urgency of the evacuation as ships attempt to load men.

Barlow is wounded and taken to an aid station, while Holden's ship Heron suffers a breakdown. Russell, a civilian mechanic, works to repair the engine as Foreman and Frankie go ashore to survey the situation and help where they can.

During a church parade, Foreman is killed in an aerial attack. Russell completes repairs, and Binns' group boards a rescue craft with six more soldiers as Holden sets sail for home. The evacuation continues despite the loss.

At sea, the engine breaks down again and the boat drifts toward the German-held port of Calais. A destroyer spots the vessel and takes them back to England, ending their perilous journey. The survivors finally head home after a grueling evacuation.