Dunkirk is the Christopher Nolan film structured around three interlocking timelines.
Dunkirk presents the 1940 evacuation of Allied soldiers from Dunkirk through three sections: “The Mole,” covering one week; “The Sea,” covering one day; and “The Air,” covering one hour. The timelines overlap at key events, but they are not shown in the same chronological order.
This structure allows Nolan to build suspense by revisiting incidents from different viewpoints. A moment first seen from the beach may later be expanded from a civilian boat or a Royal Air Force cockpit. The method also places the audience inside the confusion and limited information experienced by people during the evacuation.
The film was inspired by Operation Dynamo, the evacuation in which hundreds of thousands of Allied troops were rescued from the French coast. Nolan used practical ships and aircraft extensively, and Hans Zimmer’s ticking score intensifies the film’s emphasis on time.