Tom Hardy’s Batman Co-Star Anchors This WWII Biopic That Netflix Is Removing

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Published Mar 22, 2026, 2:20 PM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Mere months after the Tom Hardy-led Dunkirk was released in theaters, a companion piece set in the same era offered a new perspective on events shown in Christopher Nolan's film. Dunkirk was an instant hit, going on to become the highest-grossing World War II movie of all time by overtaking Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. It has since been overtaken by Nolan's own Oppenheimer, which finally won him the Best Director Oscar. In fact, it was with Dunkirk that Nolan earned his first Best Director nod. The movie told the story of the evacuation of Allied troops from the French town of Dunkirk, where they were trapped like fish in a barrel. The same event was told through the perspective of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the companion piece, which competed in several of the same categories at the Oscars.

The companion piece was headlined by frequent Nolan collaborator and Hardy's Batman co-star Gary Oldman, and was directed by Joe Wright. Incidentally, Wright had depicted the Dunkirk evacuation previously in the film Atonement. His new film focused on Churchill's role as the British premier during World War II. Oldman won the first Academy Award of his career for his performance as Churchill; he was joined in the cast by Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ben Mendelsohn.

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Gary Oldman addresses the nation as Winston Churchill in 'Darkest Hour'

We're talking, of course, about Darkest Hour. The movie received six nods at the 90th Oscars, trailing Dunkirk's eight. Both movies competed against each other for Best Picture, but the honor eventually went to The Shape of Water, directed by Guillermo del Toro. Darkest Hour was a solid hit, grossing $150 million worldwide against a reported budget of $30 million. Aside from Oldman's performance, it received praise for cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel's renaissance painting-inspired visuals. The movie now holds a "Certified Fresh" 84% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus reads, "Darkest Hour is held together by Gary Oldman's electrifying performance, which brings Winston Churchill to life even when the movie's narrative falters." Wright returned to the same arena a couple of years ago with his MUBI series Mussolini: Son of the Century.

You can watch Darkest Hour on Netflix, but according to What's On Netflix, it's set to leave the platform in May. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.