‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ Review: A Deep and Emotional War Story Told Across Time
Justin Kurzel brings a powerful and thoughtful take on war with his new series, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Based on Richard Flanagan’s award-winning novel, this is not your usual war drama. Instead of focusing on big battle scenes, Kurzel explores the emotional scars left behind by war.
Many famous directors have tried their hand at war films. Some see it as a major milestone in filmmaking. Recent war shows like Masters of the Air treat war like an epic adventure. But Kurzel goes in a different direction. He avoids glorifying combat and instead focuses on the pain and personal impact it leaves behind. As French filmmaker François Truffaut once said, “Every film about war ends up being pro-war.” This series pushes back against that idea.
Watch The Narrow Road to the Deep North on Prime Video.
A Story Told Across Three Timelines
The Narrow Road to the Deep North follows Dorrigo Evans, an Australian medical officer played by Jacob Elordi and, in later years, by Ciarán Hinds. The story moves through three time periods, before, during, and after World War II. Most of the wartime scenes happen inside a Japanese prison camp, where Dorrigo and other soldiers are forced to build the Burma railway. The series doesn’t romanticize these events. It shows the harsh, grim truth.
Dorrigo is a layered character. As a young man, he’s torn between duty and desire. Before going to war, he’s engaged to a respectable woman (Olivia DeJonge). But he falls into a passionate affair with Amy (Odessa Young), who is married to his uncle. Years later, after the war, we see him as a respected but distant surgeon, still haunted by the past. He even has another affair with Lynette (Essie Davis), the wife of his colleague.
War’s Psychological Toll and Strong Performances
In the prison camp, viewers meet both cruel and complex characters. One officer (Taki Abe) is brutally violent, while another (Shô Kasamatsu) forms a difficult, emotional connection with Dorrigo. The show doesn’t take sides but instead shows how war changes everyone, often for the worse.
The performances are strong. Elordi and Hinds each bring depth to Dorrigo, capturing different sides of the same man. The shift between timelines is smooth and emotional, almost like memories flowing in and out.
Kurzel’s style is more restrained here than in his earlier films. It’s less flashy, more serious. The visuals are grounded and real, and the storytelling is filled with empathy. This series focuses not on the action of war, but on the pain it leaves behind, in hearts, minds, and memories.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is now streaming on Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada.