[Watch]’Darkest Hour’ Trailer: Gary Oldman Transformed As Churchill

Dire political prognostications – “lacks judgment” and “we may have to replace him” – are as current as today’s MSNBC news crawl, so some might find it comforting (or not) to hear them spoken about a winner – Winston Churchill. Even better: Churchill is played here, in Darkest Hour, by a transformed Gary Oldman.

Goldman somehow has been Oscar-nominated for only one film – 2012’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – but might get another chance with this big, spot-on characterization of the man often regarded as Britain’s greatest hero.

The Darkest Hour logline: During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. While maneuvering his political rivals, he must confront the ultimate choice: negotiate with Hitler and save the British people at a terrible cost or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds.

Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement), the film covers four weeks in 1940. Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything) is the writer, and Oldman is joined onscreen by Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn.

Focus Features will release Darkest Hour in select cities on November 22.

Take a look at the new trailer above.