The subterfuge movies that rival Operation Mincemeat

Until recently a ‘special military operation’ typically referred to a particular action/plan rather than all-out war. Unless you happen to live in Putin’s Russia, that is.

John Madden’s (Shakespeare in Love) take on the real-life Operation Mincemeat is a solid entry in the canon of WWII movies that concern themselves with a particular military objective and the various forms of subterfuge that are used to achieve it.

The plot of Operation Mincemeat centres on a ruse designed to distract the Germans from the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 by secreting false plans for the landing in Greece on a civilian corpse kitted out as a Royal Marine courier.

The picture boasts a first-class cast, including Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Simon Russell Beale, Jason Isaacs, Alex Jennings, Penelope Wilton and Mark Bonnar.

Truly a Who’s Who of UK acting talent, and hopefully superior to the recent lacklustre adaptation of Robert Harris’ pre-WWII thriller Munich – The Edge of War (2022).