Young Washington Review – ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Young Washington stars William Franklyn-Miller as America’s first president in a polished historical drama. Strong battle scenes and solid performances cannot overcome its predictable storytelling. William Franklyn-Miller delivers a sincere performance, but this George Washington origin story feels too safe to leave a lasting impact. Jon Erwin’s historical drama captures Washington’s early struggles but rarely finds the emotional depth its legendary subject deserves.
Rating: 3 / 5
Released: July 3, 2026
Director: Jon Erwin
Cast: William Franklyn-Miller, Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, Kelsey Grammer, Mia Rodgers
Runtime: 125 minutes
George Washington has been on every dollar bill, every classroom wall, and in every American history textbook for 250 years. He is, by any measure, one of the most recognizable figures in human history. So it is a little surprising that Young Washington — a film dedicated entirely to showing us how he became the man he was — somehow manages to make him feel like the least interesting person in the room.
That’s not a fatal flaw. The film is watchable, occasionally rousing, and arrives at exactly the right time for the Fourth of July. But watchable and genuinely good are two different things, and Young Washington mostly settles for the former.
The story is set largely in 1755, two decades before the Declaration of Independence. George Washington (William Franklyn-Miller) is in his early twenties, burning with ambition and desperate to prove himself as a military officer.
Born on a Virginia farm after the death of his father, he has been looked down upon by the British establishment his entire life. With the help of wealthy nobleman Lord Fairfax (Kelsey Grammer), he gets a shot — leading a volunteer militia of 150 men into the Ohio Territory to push back the French.
It doesn’t go well. Washington fails badly at Fort Necessity, loses men, and returns home humiliated. His older brother Lawrence dies of tuberculosis. His love interest is engaged to someone else. Everything collapses at once. And then, slowly, he rebuilds — learning from his failures, joining General Braddock (Andy Serkis) as an aide, and eventually emerging as the battlefield leader that history remembers.
It is a solid arc. The problem is that the film tells it rather than makes you feel it.
William Franklyn-Miller is tall, lean, and undeniably handsome in the lead role — perhaps a little too handsome and a little too modern. He carries himself with the ease of a CW drama lead rather than an 18th-century colonial soldier.
He’s not a bad actor, and there are moments where his quick temper and stubborn pride come through convincingly. But the gap between the fresh-faced young man on screen and the mythic Washington we carry in our heads is wider than the film ever closes.
The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Kelsey Grammer brings warmth to Lord Fairfax. Ben Kingsley is dependable if underused as Governor Dinwiddie — he spends most of his screen time seated behind a desk. Andy Serkis chews scenery enthusiastically as General Braddock.
Mary-Louise Parker is mostly wasted as Washington’s mother, though she gets one genuinely good scene where she encourages her son to rise again after his lowest moment.
The battle sequences are the film’s strongest element. Director Jon Erwin handles the French and Indian War skirmishes with a grounded, unglamorous style that suits the period. These aren’t sweeping epic battles — they’re chaotic, close, and brutal in a restrained way that feels honest.
The cinematography is clean and well-composed throughout, and the production design gives the 1750s American frontier a convincing texture.
There’s also a genuinely interesting idea running through the film about the difference between ambition and wisdom — about how Washington’s early arrogance at Fort Necessity cost lives, and how failure became his greatest teacher. When the film leans into that theme, it earns its place.
Too often, Young Washington feels like a textbook brought to life rather than a living, breathing story. The dialogue is occasionally clunky and on-the-nose. The romance with Sally Fairfax never generates any real heat. And at two hours and five minutes, the pacing sags noticeably in the middle stretches.
The film also plays everything very safe. There’s no real edge here, no moral complexity, and no discomfort. Washington is presented as a striver who makes mistakes but never truly confronts the larger contradictions of his world. For a film about a complicated historical figure, it’s surprisingly untroubled.
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Young Washington is a decent Fourth of July film — patriotic, well-intentioned, and just competent enough to hold your attention. Fans of American history and straightforward origin stories will likely find it satisfying. Anyone hoping for something that genuinely illuminates the man behind the myth will probably leave a little underwhelmed.
It honours George Washington without ever truly bringing him to life. And for a figure this remarkable, that feels like a missed opportunity.