One Life is a movie about an English stockbroker who saved the lives of 669 Jewish children from concentration camps in Czechoslovakia during WW2. This heart-warming movie showcases the life of Nicholas Winton, an ordinary man, who does everything in his power to save as many kids as he can. 

In this movie, you can get an insight as to what World War 2 looked like from an insider perspective, through the clever scrapbooking and note-taking, shown in the movie, that Nicholas Winton did in order to remember the events of this rescue. In summary, in 1939, Winton uses trains to transport these starving, endangered children and places them into foster homes in England, in order to give them an opportunity at life, before they get sent away and murdered by the Nazis. He manages to transport 8 trains with these children, saving hundreds of them, before the eventual line of transportation gets cut off due to Nazi infiltration. The documentary highlights the struggles that Winton and these children face in the process of this rescue. 

At the end of the movie, there is a recreation of the famous BBC show That’s Life from 1988. In this show segment, the reporter explains Winton’s story as he himself sat in the audience. During this, the reporter asks, “Who in this audience owes their life to Nicholas Winton?” He tears up as he looks around the room as the whole audience is filled with the children , who are now adults, he saved almost 4 decades back.

You can watch the actual BBC clip , and see the moment for yourself.

This emotional true story was directed by Matej Mináč, a Slovak film director who  is very familiar with this topic, and has covered Winton’s story in multiple documentaries. Mináč crafts the movie with powerful music, historically accurate props, an impactful camera lens and some incredible camera shots. 

This movie is an absolute must-watch and is incredibly moving, whilst also being educational and entertaining. I was truly fascinated by this story, as it motivates one to always do what they think is right, even when others might not agree. The rating I give this movie is 4.5 stars out of 5. You must go watch it!