YOUNG WASHINGTON
(director/writer: Jon Erwin; screenwriters: Tom Provost, Diederik Hoogstraten; cinematographer: Kristopher Kimlin; editors: Parker Adams, David de Vos; music: Benjamin Botkin; cast: William Franklyn-Miller (George Washington), Ben Kingsley (Robert Dinwiddie), Andy Serkis (General Braddock), Joel Smallbone (William Fairfax), Kelsey Grammer (Lord Fairfax), Ryan Begay (Half-King Tanacharison), Mary-Louise Parker (Mary Washington), Mia Rodgers (Sally Cary), Jonno Davies (James McKay), John Foss (Lawrence Washington), Michael Benz (Thomas Gage), Will Joseph (young George); Runtime: 122; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Jon Erwin, Chip Diggins, Adam Abel, Kristy Choo, Tyler Zacharia; Angel Studios; 2026)
“Stodgy.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The Christian-themed filmmaker Jon Erwin (“Jesus Revolution”/”American Underdog”) directs this stodgy, right-wing, dull bio-pic on a young George Washington from the mid-1750s in Virginia. Erwin co-writes it with Tom Provost and Diederik Hoogstraten.
George’s (William Franklyn-Miller) no nonsense mother Mary (Mary-Louise Parker) tells him to stop trying to go after the aristocratic Sally Cary (Mia Rodgers) because she’s out of his league. GW befriends the wealthy landowner Lord Fairfax (Kelsey Grammer), but is sneered at by the Lt. Governor (Ben Kingsley).
In 1754, GW is a soldier in the Brit army satisfactorily serving as an aide-de-camp to General Braddock (Andy Serkis) during the losing Brit-French war over territory.
The bogus history lesson is bogged down in confusing sequences, has a bland star performance by William Franklyn-Miller, and falsely uses religion as a prime shaping force to claim it made GW the great man he became.
It revels in patriotic fervor, but we never get a true sense of history. This is at best a mediocre pic screaming at us at how great America is even though it’s released during America’s 250th year anniversary and the country is greatly divided under an incompetent, corrupt and unhinged, narcissist leader bringing down the country by attacking what makes it great.
REVIEWED ON 7/7/2026 GRADE: C-
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