Young Washington - Film Review - Fremantle Shipping News

“What on earth is such a young man, who sleeps in, and visibly shakes before mounting his horse to join the battle, doing in command of an army?” I puzzle, as the movie kicks off with a bang.

Meet the British colony’s newest patsy, George Washington.

Cruelly robbed of his father and his only opportunity of formal education as a boy, George (William Franklyn-Miller, who I must point out for irony is London-born) grows up on acreage in Virginia with farmland and ten slaves, under the tutelage of his hardened widowed mother (Mary Louise Parker) and his elder brother.

The boy, cursing providence and continuously questioning why shouldn’t he be afforded just the same opportunities of that as his educated brother and British-born subjects, eagerly devours texts by Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, and never wastes a moment in attempting to better his station.

Through fortuitous timing and being in the right place at the right time, our George is awarded a Major role in deterring the French from the frontier.

Sadly, the teachings of his Roman philosophers and emperors don’t always make it to his actions. Young Washington is stubborn, headstrong, and terrible at listening. He challenges instructions. He sneaks into posh parties. He surveys inhospitable land many have died trying to map. He seeks the heart of a woman skyhigh out of his league. He plows on against better advice, establishes a fort in boggy exposed land, and loses men alongside face.

Oh, and he accidentally starts a war with the French, although the details are debatable.

What a rascal. Hard to imagine he’ll amount to anything.

It’s a beautiful watch even for the non-history buffs. The forested Virginian and Ohio landscapes with frozen lakes, rising misted, and sunlight dappled amidst the trees as the red coats in their boots scamper about are just gorgeous. The aesthetic of the whole film fits the formula appropriately: red, blue, white, red, blue, white. To remind you this happened roughly 300 years ago, it’s desaturated and flattering, there’s ample use of blue filter for the most sobering scenes, and it has sufficient execution of slow motion at all the key fights.

I found the final uniform of Washington, in white and predominantly indigo, to be a surprisingly respectful nod to his original French foes donned in their own white and blue, and the mark of distinction to colonists versus the Old World and mildly buffoonish, stuffy British commanders stuck in their prim, gentlemanly ways while our Virginians and First Nations Americans master the art of guerilla warfare.

It’s a very safe film in a lot of ways. The starring actor looks as much like Leonardo di Caprio as non-AI could master and it’s noted that AI was used to generate 100 plus shots and scenes (I did have my suspicions while watching). All the acting is fine enough to meet the brief. Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammar and Andy Serkis are a show-stealing welcome addition to any screen (I would have loved to have seen even more of them), Parker brings familiar gravity to the domestic scene, and as usual the French are dastardly and the British are reprehensible with very little in between.

As for the First Nations Americans, the hypocrisy of the British colonists fighting for land that was stolen in the first place, is tangoed with in addition to slavery and sexism back and forth as an anecdote and remains unresolved. Nothing surprising or too bold.

This is an enjoyable watch directed by Sam Erwin and I liked learning more about the early days of Washington, the first president of the United States of America. Timely as this year marks the 250th year anniversary of the nation. I did find myself wanting to rewatch other more powerful explorations of the colonial era, such as Paul Giamatti’s John Adams or Leonardo di Caprio’s The Revenant which moved me more.

6.5 out of 10 stars

Young Washington is in cinemas from 6 August 2026

Runtime: 2 hours
Rating: P13