‘Pressure’ review: Brendan Fraser stars as Eisenhower in WWII thriller

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of films about World War II. You will think now that everything you need to know is already shown on the big screen. But not so fast!

“Pressure” revisits the tumultuous planning of D-Day, particularly the effort to track the weather for the Normandy invasion. British meteorologist Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott) is hired to advise Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) with a glowing endorsement from Winston Churchill.

“I need a forecast,” Eisenhower told Stagg.

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Stagg, a tough guy who doesn’t work well with the others, is forced to work with Eisenhower’s hand-picked meteorologist from the states, Irving Krick (Chris Messina). Within 72 hours, they must tell Eisenhower if he should go ahead with the invasion of Normandy or delay it – except that Stagg predicts two major storms while Krick predicts good sunny weather based on their approaches.

“The storms I’m talking about are real, and nature’s fury is real,” Stagg warned.

Eisenhower tasks the two with agreeing on a single prediction, which appears to be a Herculean effort in itself.

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Andrew Scott as Captain James Stagg and Chris Messina as Irving P. Krick in director Anthony Maras’ “Pressure,” a Focus Features release. (Alex Bailey/Focused Features/StudioCanal © 2026 All Rights Reserved.)

Rounding out the cast are Kerry Condon who plays Captain Kay Summersby, Eisenhower’s Irish secretary and confidant who also serves as “Ike’s whistleblower” for Stagg, and Damian Lewis who plays British Army officer Bernard ‘Monty’ Montgomery, who is determined to send troops rain or shine.

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Andrew Scott as Captain James Stagg and Kerry Condon as Captain Kay Summersby in director Anthony Maras’ “Pressure,” a Focus Features release. (Alex Bailey/Focused Features/StudioCanal © 2026 All Rights Reserved.)

Andrew Scott delivers yet another strong performance as Stagg, who comes across as very tough but has a gentle charm to him. Brendan Fraser commands the screen as the imposing and terrifying Eisenhower, showing glimpses of a classic American comedy at once and to some seemingly haunted by the tragedy of Exercise Tiger, the D-Day dress rehearsal that resulted in the deaths of 700 American guardsmen in the past few weeks. He feels the weight of the entire world on his shoulders as he decides if he has the confidence to give the order without leading to another disaster.

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Adapted from David Haig’s 2014 play, “Pressure” marks the second feature from writer/director Anthony Maras following his underwhelming debut “Hotel Mumbai,” a 2018 thriller about the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Maras really knows how to capture the intensity and what is admirable is how easy it is to grasp the complex nature of the story and not feel pressured as a viewer (I am a very simple man). That was revealed in Maras and Haig’s interactive screen.

Brendan Fraser stars as General Dwight D. Eisenhower in director Anthony Maras’ “Pressure,” a Focus Features release. (Alex Bailey/Focused Features/StudioCanal © 2026 All Rights Reserved.)

The decision

“Pressure” is a war thriller that revisits one of the most important moments of all time, raised by a strong ensemble led by Scott and Fraser. You don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy this film which comes just before the 82nd anniversary of D-Day.

“Pressure” is rated PG-13 for war violence, gory images, some strong language and smoking. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes. In theaters now.

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