In ‘Blitz,’ Steve McQueen shows wartime London through a child’s eyes

AP Film Writer

It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make “Blitz.” As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. But this image was of a Black boy being evacuated and he wanted to tell that story. They found a fresh face to play the boy in Elliott Heffernan and cast Saoirse Ronan as his mother in a tale that both thrills and tugs at the heartstrings. “Blitz” opens in theaters Friday and starts streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22.