The German bombing campaign against Britain during World War II, known as the Blitz, devastated cities across the UK between September 1940 and May 1941. This eight-month Nazi assault flattened entire neighbourhoods, killed thousands, and destroyed nearly two million homes. Yet the British people’s determination to resist the onslaught and continue the fight thwarted Nazi ambitions.
This period, immortalised in history books, has been revisited in countless films and documentaries through archival footage and expert insights. However, Ella Wright’s Britain and the Blitz stands out as a fresh and deeply moving retelling of this well-known episode in history, thanks to its visual quality and narrative style.
Focussing on the everyday lives of ordinary citizens, this Netflix documentary uncovers a different layer of war—one in which people struggle for survival together under Nazi firestorms. While tracing the chronology of the Blitz, it zooms in on the lives often overlooked in war narratives: children, young people, workers, and firefighters. Through rare colourised footage, much of it enhanced with AI technology, the film brings vivid new texture to scenes previously seen only in black and white. These visual restorations, combined with personal testimonies, offer a compelling new perspective on one of the most defining chapters of modern history. Britain and the Blitz is a must-watch not just for history enthusiasts but for anyone interested in how ordinary people respond to extraordinary circumstances. As the world faces renewed crises and growing fears of authoritarianism, the film’s message of solidarity, endurance, and moral clarity resonates deeply. It reminds us that history is not shaped only by generals and politicians but also by families who endured, neighbours who helped each other, and cities that rebuilt themselves from the rubble. In that sense, Britain and the Blitz is not merely a film about the past; it speaks urgently to the present, reminding us of the quiet courage that holds societies together when everything else falls apart.