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Lacking the scale and spectacle of War Horse , this more modest Michael Morpurgo adaptation has to rely on plot alone, a tale of two brothers (Jack O’Connell and George MacKay) whose relationship – strained by their love for the same woman (Alexandra Roach) – is further tested once they find themselves occupying the same WW1 trench.

Flash-forwards to a dawn execution leave us in no doubt where things are headed, for all director Pat O’Connor’s attempts to mask which sibling will don the blindfold.

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Neil Smith is a freelance film critic and writer who contributes regularly to Heat, SFX and Screen International. He's a long-time member of the London Film Critics’ Circle and was a contributing editor at Total Film for many years.