Rah-rah biopic about the militia man who’d become our first president
Young Washington
Starring William Franklyn-Miller, Andy Serkis, Ben Kingsley, Mary-Louise Parker & Kelsey Grammer
Directed by Joe Erwin
Rated PG-13
In theaters Thursday, July 2, 2026
Long before he was the “father of our country,” leading the fledging continental army, George Washington was an ambitious young Virginia militia leader fighting alongside the British on the brutal colonial frontier.
With its release date strategically timed just ahead of America’s 250th birthday, Young Washington is a historical biopic centered on Washington’s disastrous early military failure in the 1750s, one that ignited the French and Indian War—but steeled the leadership skills that would later galvanize his pivotal role in the birth of America’s rebellion against England.
London-born British actor William Franklyn-Miller, a former teen model, stars as Washington. You may have seen him previously on TV (Medici, Jack Irish) or in smallish films (Spring Breakaway, Donji Rescue). If you were a teen girl on social media a decade ago, when he was 12, you might remember that he was voted the most beautiful boy in the world after a pic of him went viral online.
His portrayal of a dashingly handsome Washington, with piercing blue eyes, a messy shock of dark hair and a chiseled jawline, certainly ranks high on the historical hunk-o-meter. He definitely creates a dishy new visage for the guy on our one-dollar bills. And he rocks that tricorn hat.
The supporting cast is rounded out by some familiar faces. Mary-Louise Parker (from Showtime’s Weeds) plays George’s mom, Mary. Kelsey Grammer (TV’s Frasier) is Lord Fairfax, an upper-class land-baron muckety-muck. Ben Kingsley (who won an Oscar for Ghandi) adds to his extensive list of character roles as Robert Dinwaddle, the governor of Virginia. And Lord of the Rings fans might recognize Andy Serkis (he was Gollum!) as Edward Braddock, a decorated British officer who leads his soldiers on a bloody battlefield charge.
Speaking of battlefields, there’s a lot of those in Young Washington. Cannonballs kaboom, bullets fly, bodies fall, blood spurts. But there are softer moments too, as when young George courts a comely socialite, Sally (Mia Rodgers, who played Taylor on HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls). But like Washington’s first military excursion, that romance also ends in disappointment.
Young Washington reminds viewers that America wasn’t always America. It was a wilderness patchwork of colonial settlements and British overlords, French excursionists, Native Americans holding onto what was once their land, and slaves. One soldier eyes a couple of slaves, sent to fight in the “stead” of their landowner, and wonders why the militia doesn’t give them guns, so they could help in the battle. “They might shoot us,” his fellow militiaman replies. “Wouldn’t you?”
Young Washington is the newest movie from Angel Studios and the Wonder Project, which typically focus on Christian themes. Director Jon Erwin’s previous films include House of David, I Still Believe, a miniseries about Moses, a doc on the Christian band Casting Crowns and a drama, I Can Only Imagine, based on a song by Mercy Me. There’s an undergirding of faith, divine purpose and redemption in Young Washington as well, like when Mary sends her boy off to war with a blessing and a balm; “Go, as God’s servant,” she tells him. George says he’s guided by the hand of “providence.” A group of Native American warriors, awed when he survives a vicious battlefield encounter, solemnly tells him he’s been chosen for protection “by the spirit.”
I guess the French commander chopped to pieces earlier by tomahawks wasn’t chosen. As they say in France, c’est dommage.
The movie’s messaging extends to its overriding theme that losers can become winners, failures can lead to success, and small players can become big leaders. “Even a pawn can take a king,” George’s father (John Foss) tells his young son over a game of chess.
As the movie ends, Washington’s army is newly bedecked in the colors of America: uniforms of red, white and blue. It’s a fitting close to this rip-roaring slice of rah-rah American history carved by war, wrapped in Sunday school homilies and served up as an Independence Day appetizer for audiences primed for red-meat patriotism, rousing underdog tales and real-life heroes.
—Neil Pond