I usually hate war movies. I try to avoid them at all costs simply because they tend to exploit the violence of war in order to evoke some cheap emotional response from the audience. However, I love Christopher Nolan's films so I put my feelings aside and bought a matinee ticket to see "Dunkirk."

When "Dunkirk" hit theaters, Nolan slammed streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu. He commented that some movies need to be seen at the cinema so audiences get the full visual and auditory experience. While I agree with him, I'm also a broke college student so I have to pick movie tickets carefully and scarcely.

It was Monday afternoon and the only other people in the theater were three older men. The next two hours were visually spectacular and unbelievably gut-wrenching.

While I think that there is value in streaming sites, I definitely think "Dunkirk" is a movie that needs to be seen in theaters. Hans Zimmer's score was intense and added to the anxiety of escaping the war torn beach. The visuals were beautiful and heartbreaking and seeing it on the big screen makes you feel like you're with these soldiers as they attempt survival.

I made a point not to watch any trailers or read up on the movie before I bought my ticket. I wanted to see it with a completely open mind. Because of this, I had no idea that Harry Styles was one of the actors. I never had a One Direction phase and I loathe musicians who decide to try acting and vice versa. Usually they're mediocre at both.

But, damn can this Brit act. He didn't play a very likeable character which made it even better. He didn't attempt to play some propaganda hero. That was what made "Dunkirk" such a great war movie. Its aim wasn't to breed patriotism and it didn't try to entrance you with cool weapons and action scenes. It was strictly about survival, fear, and altruism.

The problem with so many war movies is it paints war as black and white- the narrative is always good versus evil. The only evil we are shown during this film is Nazi ammunition and propaganda fliers that rained on British soldiers at the very opening scene.

Patriotism isn't cheering on Bradley Cooper as he eyes a child through a sniper scope. Cowardice isn't experiencing shell-shock and PTSD. Nolan and the actors in this movie make you sympathize with men that are typically depicted as weak in the war genre.

There were many moments during the battle scene that made my eyes well, but it was the ending that did me in completely. The soldiers that made it safety were expecting to be seen as failures, but instead were greeted with warm, relieved welcomes. As one of the defeated soldiers hisses at an old man that congratulated them, "all we did was survive" the response of the older man was, "that's enough."