One Life (2023)

One Life is told in about the most conventional way a true story can be, and Anthony Hopkins makes that the least important thing about it. In 1938, weeks after the Munich Agreement, a London stockbroker named Nicholas Winton, played as a young man by Johnny Flynn, goes to Prague and finds refugee families with nowhere safe to go. Doreen Warriner of the refugee committee there shows him the need, his mother Babi throws her weight behind him, and he takes on bureaucracy, fundraising and a closing window to place children with foster families in England. By 1988, Hopkins has taken over as the older Winton, sorting old files at home and still blaming himself for the children he couldn’t save. Helena Bonham Carter is terrific as Babi. The film cuts between the two timelines in the familiar biopic rhythm. It holds a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. An 8.3 because it’s a remarkable story told with real care, and Hopkins makes the quietest scenes hit the hardest. $4.05 says you look up Nicholas Winton’s name the minute the credits start.

What works: Anthony Hopkins is superb as the older Winton, Helena Bonham Carter shines as his mother, and the true story moves you without being milked.

What doesn’t: It’s told in a very conventional, familiar way, and the cuts between 1938 and 1988 follow the standard biopic rhythm.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a true story about an ordinary person doing extraordinary good, and families with older kids learning this history.