The Trailer for Apple TV+'s 'Blitz' Frames the Horrors of War Through a Child's Eyes

Even if your knowledge of World War II history is spotty, you've almost certainly heard of the Blitz. This sustained eight-month bombing campaign saw German fighters commit mass attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities throughout Britain. London was particularly hard hit, getting bombed for over 50 consecutive nights in late 1940. More than 40,000 civilians were killed and the shape of the capital --- as well as many other cities throughout London. But many more also fled, and that's the story Steve McQueen's latest period drama Blitz intends to tell.

As the title implies, the film takes place during this period of heavy German aerial bombing, though it focuses on the wave of refugees who left their homes for supposed safety outside the U.K.'s crowded urban centers. Around a third of the population experienced some form of evacuation, many of whom were schoolchildren. As part of "Operation Pied Piper", the youngest and most vulnerable British citizens were sent to rural evacuation centers while their parents continued to work and contribute to the war effort.

Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun) stars as Rita, a distraught mother frantically searching for her son after sending him to the countryside. Newcomer Elliott Heffernan is George, a precocious nine-year-old determined to return home to his family in East London.