by ECI Released : 2026-07-08
Young Washington is directed by Jon Erwin and stars William Franklyn-Miller (Washington), Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, Kelsey Grammer, and Mary-Louise Parker. One of the year’s biggest surprises, the film takes a relatively unexplored period of George Washington’s life and turns it into an old-fashioned historical adventure centered on the failures and battlefield experiences that shaped the future president.
What the film lacks in strict historical accuracy, it largely makes up for with energy, scale, and a star-making performance from William Franklyn-Miller. Rather than portraying Washington as the already-formed national icon familiar from history books, Franklyn-Miller plays him as ambitious, insecure, stubborn, and desperate to prove himself. His disastrous experiences at Fort Necessity and later participation in the Braddock Expedition give the movie a strong coming-of-age structure, showing Washington learning through humiliation and defeat.
The supporting cast adds considerable weight. Ben Kingsley brings authority to Robert Dinwiddie, while Andy Serkis makes Edward Braddock memorable despite his limited screen time. The Battle of the Monongahela is the film’s standout sequence, delivering surprisingly intense action while effectively illustrating the chaos of eighteenth-century warfare.
At times, Erwin leans too heavily into the idea of Washington being protected by Providence, and several relationships are simplified for dramatic effect. Still, the film succeeds because it treats its subject as a flawed young man rather than a monument. Entertaining, earnest, and considerably better than expected, Young Washington is a compelling historical epic anchored by Franklyn-Miller’s breakout performance—and worth seeing at a drive-in near you.
