‘SPOILER ALERT’

In 1917 during the first World War

Schofield and Blake are sleeping under a tree

when they are awoken by a sergeant

who asks Blake to pick another soldier

and report to his superior

Blake grabs Schofield and they walk through the trenches

wondering what they’ve been asked to do

Blake hopes to be home by Christmas

They arrive at General Erinmore’s quarters

He assigns them on an extremely important mission

he wants them to cross over former German territory

in order to get an extremely important message to Colonel Mackenzie

who is chasing after the retreating Germans in order to finish them off

Erinmore explains that this is a mistake

the Germans are luring the British troops into a trap

Erinmore has picked Blake

because his brother is in the troop that will be attacking

and this mission puts his life on the line

Blake determined to save his brother

agrees instantly to the extremely dangerous mission

Blake and Schofield leave immediately through the trenches until they find Lieutenant Leslie

and give him their orders to cross

Leslie thinks it’s an insane idea

but gives them instructions and directions

on how to get through the former German line

He gives them a flare gun to indicate that they have survived

if they make it

Blake and Schofield make their way through the empty battlefields

which are full of wire

and muddy trenches

then a massive super trench filled with mud and bodies

Schofield’s hand gets caught in the spiked wire

injuring it badly

he wraps the injury

and moves onward

Eventually

the two finally finish crossing the space between

and arrive at the German trenches

which are empty and abandoned

They go inside the underground

and find the German barracks empty

and crawling with rats

Blake finds a tripwire

and before they can react

one of the rats crossing the wire

causing a huge explosion

that buries them underground

Schofield is fully buried

but Blake manages to wake him up and get him out

so they can flee before the entire barracks collapse

Once out

Schofield angrily asks Blake

why he picked him to on this mission

Blake explains he thought they were just going on a food run

he never thought it would be this mission

Blake fires the flare off

They continue onward

finding a green area

Schofield tells Blake

they’ll likely get a medal for this

Blake says it will be nice

since Schofield lost his previous one

but Schofield tells him

he didn’t lose it but swapped it for wine

Blake is shocked he didn’t take the medal home

but Schofield tells him he hated leaving before

The two come upon cherry blossoms

which Blake knows

because his mother has an orchard

where he and his brother picked cherries

They then find a house in the field

which they check but find no one in

Schofield finds a crow and fresh milk

which he fills his canteen with

The two soldiers witness a dog fight in the air

between three planes

which ends with

the British shooting the German plane down

and it heads straight for them

They run out of the way as it crashes

and pull the burning German pilot out of the cockpit

Schofield suggests putting him out of his misery

but Blake tells Schofield to get him water

As he does

the German brutally stabs Blake in the gut

Schofield shoots the German

and desperately tries to get Blake patched up and move him

but it’s too late

Blake begins bleeding out

and tells Schofield to write to his mother

and tell her he wasn’t scared

Schofield promises him

and tells him he will finish the mission

before Blake dies

Shortly after

more British soldiers arrive

Captain Smith tells Schofield

that they are passing through

and can take him some of the ways to his destination

He advises Schofield not to talk

on the loss of his friend

Schofield rides in the back of a truck

with some rowdy soldiers

When the truck gets stuck in the mud

he leads them in pushing the truck

Once they get back in

he tells them his mission

Schofield gets dropped off a river

that he must cross to get to his destination

and he comes under gunfire

He manages to race into the building where the shooter is

and the two shoot each other

Schofield kills the German

but he is hit in the helmet and knocked unconscious

When he awakes it is night

and the town is lit by fires

He dodges gunfire

as he races through the burning town

eventually

stopping to hide in a building where he finds Lauri a woman who only speaks French hiding in fear

Schofield speaks French and tells her

he’s not German

She tends to some of his wounds

and reveals there’s a baby she’s watching over

Schofield gives it some of his milk

and Lauri explains she has no idea who its parents are

She begs him to stay with them

but he explains he must continue his mission

He goes back out into the firefight

having to kill and flee in order to survive

Being shot at

he dives off a cliff into a river

which he fights to survive in

Eventually

the river calms

and he reaches land

where he breaks into sobs

He keeps going until he hears singing

and sees a group of soldiers sitting around

and they are listening to another sing

He sits and listens

then tells a soldier he’s looking for the 2nd

The soldier tells him that’s them

that they’re following the larger group

Schofield runs forward into the trenches

begging someone

to listen to him not to go forward with the attack

which no one will –

it’s too late

the battle is starting

the first wave is sent

Schofield realizes the only way

to reach MacKenzie fast enough

is not to take the trenches

but instead

running sideways across the active battlefield

which he does

He survives and gets back into the trenches

and finds Colonel MacKenzie

who at first refuses to listen to him

in full disbelief

and insisting they are about to defeat the Germans

Schofield pleads with him to read the letter

which he finally does

and he orders his men to stand down

Schofield goes to the medical tents

and looking for Blake’s brother

He eventually finds him unharmed

Schofield breaks the bad news to him

about his brother

and gives him some of his belongings

that he took with him

he devastated

but pulls himself together

and tells Schofield to get some food for himself

Schofield asks if he can write to their mother

and he agrees

He tells Blake’s brother

that his brother saved his life

The two shake hands

and Schofield goes and finds a tree to sit under

He takes out a photo of his wife and of his children looks at them then closes his eyes

1917.