July 6, 2026 · Watch the official trailer
Capturing and portraying America's Founding Fathers in popular culture has often been a tricky endeavor, largely because the stories told about these national heroes are so dense that adequately encapsulating their legacy generally requires a long-form documentary or narrative miniseries.
Lin-Manuel Miranda certainly tried to consolidate the exploits of the nation's first Treasury Secretary into a two-and-a-half-hour hip-hop Broadway musical, but it's rare to find Founding Fathers on the big screen as the central focus of a feature film.
Director Jon Erwin and Angel Studios sought to change that this Independence Day weekend with an origin story of sorts for unquestionably the most revered man in the founding of the nation.
It's striking and somewhat jarring at first to realize that the entirety of "Young Washington" takes place decades before the American Revolution, and it's exceedingly strange to see a youthful George Washington so fervently defend and try to be accepted by a British Empire that views him as a second-class colonial.
Irwin's film follows Washington as he begins his military career as a major in the Virginia militia, facing French and Native American forces throughout the uncharted Ohio Territory during the conflict that would become known as the French and Indian War.
William Franklyn-Miller does an extraordinary job bringing the earnestness, humility, and reluctant servant leadership to Washington, and his ability to take relatively simple dialogue and elevate the material both in cadence and physical presence makes for a compelling protagonist that audiences can rally behind beyond simply the fact that he is portraying George Washington.
The relative newcomer is given every opportunity to be presented like an uncrowned king in much the same way that Washington himself was revered in his military and political life. Though Franklyn-Miller largely defers to a humbler earnestness that reflects the moral underpinning of the film as a whole.
Many of the film's co-stars feel as if they were cast for a different, more traditional historical epic, as it's difficult to imagine William Franklyn-Miller sharing scenes with an Oscar winner like Ben Kingsley and Emmy winners like Kelsey Grammer and Mary-Louise Parker.
Though they're occasionally jarring in their inclusion, the veteran actors on the periphery of "Young Washington" do not completely overtake the narrative. Each finds their place within the film, and Kingsley gives immense gravitas to his turn as Virginia Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie. Though it's clear that Andy Serkis's limited time on screen as General Edward Braddock has the most weight and impact on the story as a whole.
For a film from Angel Studios, a largely family-friendly, faith-based production company, the amount of traditional war violence shown in "Young Washington" is not relatively standard, though considerable decisions are made to soften the violence for younger viewers.
Brutal killings are largely performed in the background, and rarely are people shot and killed in direct view of the audience. Certainly, weapons are fired and soldiers fall to the ground, but the brutality of war doesn't have quite the same sting as it would in the hands of more mainstream studios.
The film's highly stylized orchestral score seeks to invigorate the audience with a sense of pride and passion, though at times it does come across as a bit heavy-handed.
The strongest part of "Young Washington," as a whole, is the exceptionally well-considered cinematography from director of photography Kristopher Kimlin, who instills a sense of urgency in the camera work while evoking classic American historical epics like "Lincoln" and "The Patriot."
In fact, "Young Washington" may be the most technically impressive entry into the Angel Studios filmography thus far, as the studio's continued growth has clearly come with a commensurate increase in its technical budget.
Though it might have been more prudent for a theatrical film about the life of George Washington to center around his career as both an American revolutionary and first president, once Irwin's film puts viewers through its initial paces, the strong back half of the film does offer insight into how one of America's Founding Fathers developed the morality and sense of servant leadership key to the formation of what Americans view as ideals to strive for in their elected leaders.
Although it should be widely accessible via Angel Studios' streaming service or through at-home viewing sometime in the next several months, "Young Washington" does have enough visual impact to justify a trip to the cinema.
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